Convergence (REDUX)
by javichuelas
Summary: Having known about Halkeginia long before Saito Hiraga was summoned to it, Earth finds itself struggling to deal with the strange phenomena attributed to the parallel world. Now two years after the Ancient Dragon crisis, a summoning brings an airliner to Tristain, setting in motion events which will affect both worlds and unveiling a conspiracy thousands of years in the making.
1. Prologue: Earth and Halkeginia

**Hello my eager readers. I have returned once more from obscurity in an attempt to bring you an epic tale of drama, suspense, action, romance, and whatever other genre I can attribute to it. I've been sitting on chapter 5 of this thing for two months and in an attempt to get me to get off my ass and write, I have decided to post the prologue. So far, I have no set update schedule since I work full-time and also like to have a social life.  
**

 **This is a rewrite of my first Fanfiction story "Convergence", which I stopped writing in January of 2015 due to a loss of inspiration and real life being a most sadistic bitch. Now, I've changed quite a bit since then. Finally graduated college, moved to a new city, got a new job, and have pretty much overhauled my social priorities. I daresay if college me were to take a look at where I am now, he would not recognize me at all.  
**

 **In keeping with these changes, there will be language and adult situations, so if you're simply incapable of reading bad language or haven't grown up, please exit the fan fiction now and go back to your college safe spaces or whatever (don't get me wrong, I'm a raving, soulless liberal, but I also believe that exposure to different ideas, no matter how stupid or offensive, is a means to educate oneself).  
**

 **Bit of a long prologue but it's necessary. It's going to be split into two parts. It also introduces characters that will be important later on. There are some changes from canon that you'll notice. Necessary for my story.**

 **I do not own The Familiar of Zero, Zero no Tsukaima, Fringe, or any other franchise I may cite in this story. If I did, I'd be travelling the world.**

* * *

PROLOGUE

 _September 21, 1986, Brussels, Belgium_

 _NATO Headquarters_

In a room at NATO Headquarters, a young scientist was in the midst of preparing a presentation that could either ensure his continued career, or destroy it entirely.

His name was Dr. Robert Dreyfus, a certified genius with an IQ of 196 and arguably one of the greatest scientific minds alive.

He and his compatriot, Dr. Nathan Scott, also a certified genius, had both studied at Harvard before being contracted by the US government at the height of the Cold War.

The field of the duo's experiments ranged from quantum physics to genetic engineering, propelling them into an unknown (at least to the public) relationship with the U.S. government to advance its most scientifically innovative - and sometimes ethically questionable - research projects under the heading of fringe science.

One of these fringe sciences were attempts to unlock the powers of mind manipulation. The 20th century was full of reported acts of alleged pyrokineses, psychokinesis, electrokinesis, telekinesis, and other paranormal activity, however most proved to be hoaxes. Despite this, the two scientists spoke with dozens of people around the world who claimed to have developed supernatural abilities for a brief time.

The oddity was that many of these people developed them at specific times, only to lose their "abilities" within hours. And they claimed this happened at least twice every year. Desperately seeking any sort of pattern to the mystery, Dreyfus and Scott came across a remarkable discovery:

The victims only gained their abilities during solar eclipses.

This mystery baffled the two scientists, as they sought to answer why. Over the course of their research, they came across anecdotal accounts that suggested that mysterious occurrences during solar eclipses were something of an increasing occurrence, with strange events being reported more and more frequently throughout the 20th century.

Of the most notable examples were tales of military equipment and in some cases, even soldiers, vanishing into thin air. Of course, the respective militaries of these countries vehemently denied these accounts or refused to comment altogether, but they intrigued the duo nonetheless:

There were reports of an American soldier going AWOL in the middle of a firefight in Vietnam, with his squad mates describing him being sucked into a "giant green hole" before vanishing…

A German Panzer Division who'd watched one of their tanks disappear during an eclipse…

Another German division who'd watched one of their Flak 88 guns disappear during the same eclipse…

And most importantly: a flight of Japanese Zeroes which had disappeared into an eclipse with only one plane returning and the pilot describing another world with two moons…

This increasingly common occurrence had intrigued Dr. Dreyfus and Dr. Scott, especially the possibility of another world on the other side, a curiosity that they further delved into under the influence of psychedelic drugs.

Figuring they had nothing to lose, save for several thousand dollars and their reputations, they launched a probe into an eclipse. The results were the reason the two scientists were in Brussels presenting their findings to a group of generals…

* * *

"…our success as a species thus far can serve as an example of our ability to achieve that, which most can't even imagine" spoke Dr. Dreyfus, looking at the generals before him. "But what you must understand is that as scientists, we must embrace every possibility. No limitations. No boundaries. There is no reason for them" he concluded, taking out a file with photos.

"Gentlemen, I would like you to take a look at this. These are pictures, captured from probes that Dr. Scott and I launched on rockets, directly into solar eclipses. What they reveal is something remarkable"

The generals seemed baffled. The pictures depicted farm fields and vast open countryside, much like one you'd find on Earth.

"A parallel world, just like ours. But less advanced in some areas" he explained.

The generals eyed them with curiosity, skepticism clearly visible beneath their professional demeanor.

"Now where it gets interesting is what the video footage we received reveals" he turned to the television behind him.

The screen showed a flash of light, the probe descending quickly before being yanked by its parachute. Below it lay a lush landscape. Above, two moons hovered, one blue and one pink. Cycling through the cameras, one showed something. Four figures closing fast. As they approached it became clear what they were. Humans, riding some sort of winged beast. The humans circled around the probe as it descended. They were wearing what looked like plate armor.

Then one took out what looked like some sort of sword, pointed it at the probe, and fire exploded from the tip. The flames bathed the probe as they burned through the parachute cord. With the probe now in freefall, the humans and their beasts seemed troubled to keep up. The probe cut out as it impacted the ground.

The generals' faces were ones of confusion as Dreyfus continued.

"Now, we have launched a few probes into these eclipses and the scenes seem to play out in a similar fashion. The probes vanish at around 45,000 feet in a flash of light and reappear somewhere else. Gentlemen, we have here an alternate world, populated by humans, who have somehow unlocked the ability to manipulate the powers of the mind. Or what some might call: magic. " said Robert, replaying the video and bracing himself for skepticism.

A few of the generals chuckled. One looked thoroughly irritated though.

"Dr. Dreyfus, if you asked us to come all this way for some drugged up fairy tale you and your colleague have concocted—"

"If that video isn't proof enough, General, I'll simply ask you to follow me outside. I can show you something even more remarkable. If you're not satisfied, feel free to discredit me however you wish" Robert interrupted.

The general seemed to consider his proposal before relenting.

* * *

Heading outside to the roof of the building, Nathan was waiting there with what looked a window on a tripod.

"Dr. Dreyfus. Generals" he greeted simply.

"Dr. Scott" replied Robert. "Gentlemen for the last few years, Dr. Scott and I have been conducting various experiments regarding this other world. So based on our findings, we developed a window of sorts. A way of looking into this neighboring world. And that, is why we're asking for funding."

"This window works by capturing errant photons from the world beside ours. The window essentially stretches the membrane between our worlds, and allows us to see their image, from our side."

"You're going to make some sort of alternate Brussels appear?" asked one of the generals.

"It's already there, General Mitchell. At all times. Right in front of our eyes. We just can't see it."

Turning on the window, Nathan moved to the side as the generals saw the image of the Brussels skyline turn into what looked like a medieval city. It was beautiful in its own right. A large castle dominated the new skyline. Panning the window around, large sailing ships seemed to be flying around the castle. A few humans seemed to be riding those same beasts from before. Below, people milled around, going about their daily business, unaware of the humans from another world, watching them in astonishment.

"Gentlemen. You are looking through a window into another world"

* * *

 _October 10, 1986, Frankfurt, Germany_

 _EUCOM HQ_

Despite their best intentions, Dreyfus and Scott's discovery of the world they christened Avalon had been classified beyond Top Secret, albeit to very vocal objections from the duo.

"The people deserve to know they are not alone! There is life out there other than our own. Granted it may be a different dimension but it exists! It proves that we as a species are not simply a fluke!" cried Robert, arguing his case in the office of EUCOM Commander, General Jeffrey Pelt.

"Imagine everything we could learn from these people! Lighter aircraft! Stronger buildings! We may even find a way to learn how these people can do the things they can!" supplied Dr. Scott.

"Dr. Dreyfus. Dr. Scott." countered the general. ""While I can see the merits in your proposal, making it public could severely jeopardize our advantage over the Russians!"

He moved to stand and came to face the two scientists.

"You've been based here in Europe for the past few years. You know how serious the threat of the Soviet Union is. Now granted, they may be on the downswing, which is why we see no reason to change things."

"Gentlemen, the Russians are suffering economic woes the likes of which they may never recover from. Additionally, with their war in Afghanistan going against them, they may never recover their credibility either. This is the closest we've been to the end of the Soviet Union. If they were to get wind of this, they might find a new purpose. It could be the beginning of another space race!" Pelt continued. Moving past his desk, he sat down behind it. "Now I have orders from the President. He's ordered anything pertaining to Avalon classified beyond Top Secret."

"Now… the soldier in me wants to reach Avalon as soon as possible, make sure they're not a threat to us, maybe find something there that can ensure my country's continued security in the coming century. But as you've said, it's impossible short of sending someone through the eclipse and hoping they make it."

"I understand your enthusiasm. But until I know, and the United States Government knows that they don't pose a threat to us, you two keep your mouths shut."

"You may continue your research into Avalon, and maybe, just maybe, one day you'll find a way to realistically get us there. On that day, we'll consider whether _this…_ " he gestured to the pictues of Avalon

"…gets released to the public. In the meantime, your work is to remain strictly confidential. Am I making myself clear, Doctors?" finished Pelt. His tone left no room for further argument.

"Crystal" replied Robert, resigned. Nathan said nothing and merely left the room.

* * *

Research into Avalon continued well past that fateful day with the creation of an official research team to further study Avalon, designated SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Research Division). Officially, the group never existed, comprised of members from the NATO countries' intelligence agencies and militaries.

Though proceeding at a slow pace, due to the fact that the now designated Interdimensional Viewing Portals could only transmit visuals of life in Avalon, SWORD now had extensive knowledge of the only inhabited lands in Avalon, a continent known as Halkeginia. Lip readers brought onto the team managed to isolate bits of conversation and a bigger picture of the state of things was constructed.

The team's primary focus was to understand the use of magic, however that proceeded at a dismal pace. Other knowledge gleamed from the portals however allowed them to study Halkeginia's governments, politics, geography, and to a limited extent, current events.

The similarities between Europe and Halkeginia defied logical explanations and even the brains behind SWORD were at a loss as to how the primary countries spoke similar languages to and shared the past names of Earth's European countries.

By 1997, the group consisted of a team of 24 people from the NATO countries. Most of their efforts were going towards finding a way to cross the barrier between dimensions.

However, research stalled when Dr. Nathan Scott went missing in 1998. The disappearance hit Dr. Dreyfus particularly hard. Dreyfus briefly threw himself into his research before abruptly quitting the team and moving back to the US. This ultimately had the effect of reducing the research team in Europe to a mere handful.

With research into Avalon at an all-time low, nobody was prepared for what was to come.

* * *

While progress into a means of getting to Avalon had slowed, the small team had managed to come up with a way to detect the exotic energy that permeated the solar eclipses.

It was through this means that they began uncovering something unnerving.

Beginning in late 2006, energy spikes began popping up all over the globe with particularly high concentrations in Europe and no concurrent eclipses to explain them. Soon thereafter, unexplained events began occurring in areas with particularly strong spikes. The first were minor, small earthquakes, lightning storms, and small cracks forming in the ground.

However, in May 2007, a particularly high spike was detected in southern France. Shortly after, it was reported that a large swath of forest there had simply died for no reason. Only two months later, another large spike was attributed to an earthquake in Spain measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale. Soon, other events were happening across the globe and the research team was tasked to capacity in keeping up with them. The final straw occurred when an airliner travelling from New York to Frankfurt encountered a freak lightning storm over the Atlantic and later reported having been thrown off course by several miles.

With the world's attention fixed on the War on Terror and the Middle East and the NATO intelligence communities working overtime on spinning the occurrences as natural phenomena, these occurrences received little attention. However the big-wigs in the intelligence community knew that something was happening in Avalon that was causing all these events. Something very serious.

SWORD was officially restarted and given massive amounts of funding to find a way to Avalon, find the source of the spikes, and stop them.

Over time, more countries were brought into the fold until SWORD was comprised of researchers and operatives from every hemisphere. Being dominated by NATO, China, Russia, and other countries considered "expansionist" or "potentially dangerous to Avalon" were left out of the alliance, though the higher ups knew it was only a matter of time until the secret got out.

* * *

 _April 11, 2012, Brussels, Belgium_

 _SWORD Headquarters_

It was just after the morning watch had taken over monitoring duties at SWORD's Avalon event monitor when the alarm began ringing, indicating a new event.

"WE'VE GOT AN ENERGY SPIKE! IT'S HUGE! 900 RELS AND RISING!" yelled the monitoring agent.

"Alright everybody you all know the drill. Location?" yelled Director Reynolds above the confusion.

"Shit, it's right in the middle of Tokyo!"

"Hoshi" he yelled, turing towards the Japanese liaison. "Get Kutimura on the line. They probably detected this as well"

* * *

 _Tokyo, Japan_

 _Akihabara District_

A 17 year old Saito Hiraga mulled over his now nearly empty savings. He'd just spent close to 8500 Yen to repair his laptop.

"I gotta get myself a part time job" he mumbled, looking at his laptop. Giving a dejected sigh, he headed home. "At this rate, I'm never going to find a girlfriend".

As he walked along the busy shopping district he noticed a green oval hovering in front of him.

* * *

 _Brussels_

" _Reynolds, we have picked it up here as well. Are you seeing these readings?"_ asked the on-screen face of Kutimura, head of the Secret Division of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office of Japan, or Naicho.

"These are some of the highest readings we've seen so far. We're reading it at 1300 Rels now and still climbing" replied Reynolds. "Do you have a visual yet?"

" _The strongest readings are right in the middle of Tokyo. Triangulation is still ongoing. We're tapping into the local surveillance cameras. So far, nothing seems to be happening."_

"With readings this high, anything could happen"

" _I've already alerted the emergency services to… Wait… Something's coming up"_

"Sir it's a breach! Energy levels are now at 2500 Rels and climbing. Consistent with those recorded during the eclipse portals!"

Reynolds paled. There were no eclipses due for at least three months. So how was there a portal opening?

"Kutsimura?"

" _We're seeing it here too. An eclipse-like breach. We're trying to find it now. If this thing opens up on the surface…"_

* * *

 _Tokyo_

"Huh?"

Saito just stared at the green oval. No one else seemed to see it but him.

Moving closer, he poked it. It seemed to ripple.

Poking it again, it suddenly opened up and swallowed half his arm. He was alarmed when he felt it pulling him in.

"HUH? WAIT! LET GO! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Saito struggled to free himself from the vacuum-like grip.

The oval suddenly flashed, and Saito found himself being pulled through.

"AAAAAAAGHHH!"

His screams of went unnoticed by the surrounding crowds as Saito disappeared into another world, leaving no trace but his laptop.

The oval itself simply disappeared in a flash.

* * *

 _Brussels_

"Energy levels falling back within normal parameters."

Silence reigned over the sensor room.

"What the hell just happened?"

That one statement seemed to encompass what the staff was thinking.

Reynolds simply stood there, stunned and confused. The readings they'd recorded had been the highest since SWORD began monitoring. He'd been expecting a major catastrophe on par with the 2011 Japan earthquake, which had recorded levels energy levels upwards of 1100 Rels. Any higher and the levels would match what was picked up with every eclipse.

"Kutimura, you seeing this? The readings are gone"

" _We're seeing the same here. Background levels back to normal. I do not understand. These are the highest levels since last year. We're not hearing of any catastrophes, nothing seems to have happened."_ replied Kutimura.

"Keep me posted. We'll go over the data on our end"

* * *

 _April 12, 2012 , Tokyo, Japan_

 _NAICHO Headquarters_

It had been 12 hours since the energy spike and the Paranormal Research Division (PRD) of NAICHO had been going over the surveillance cameras in Akihabara non-stop. Being one of the busiest shopping areas in Tokyo, there were hundreds of cameras to go through.

One of the analysts had been going over a tape from a camera near an electronics shop when she spotted something remarkable.

"Hey, Inspector. I think you should see this" she said, calling over her superior, Chief Inspector Koishi Kutimura.

The Chief Inspector was the local head of the PRD and liaison to SWORD. Anything Avalon related that occurred in Japan or near its territory was reported directly to her.

"What have you got?" she asked walking up to the analyst's desk.

"This is the camera from the Ganju Electronics Store in Akihabara. I've got something… Well just keep an eye on this kid here"

Kutimura watched as a kid wearing a blue hoodie walked out with a laptop.

The kid walked up the street. Then the screen flashed and right in the kid's path a glowing oval seemed to appear out of nowhere. _  
_

The kid stopped to examine the oval. Curiously, none of the other passersby seemed to notice the glowing oval.

Suddenly the oval seemed to grab hold of the kid as he struggled to break free. Then he disappeared into the oval, which vanished shortly after.

"What the hell?!" cried Kutimura. "Play it again" she ordered.

The analyst complied and the two watched as the kid was once again sucked into the oval.

"Reverse and hold when the oval appears… There" she exclaimed, pointing at the time stamp on the video. "5:21:43. That's right after the first spikes began."

"Pull it up on screen one. Everyone. I want you all to watch this. I think we just found our breach."

The footage was once again played, this time on the room's large screen.

"Alright. Here's the deal. One: we need to confirm this was the only anomaly in Akihabara. That means team 1 keeps combing through the surveillance footage to see if anything else comes up. Team 2, I want to know what exactly we're looking at. I want theories on what that thing is. Scenarios, whatever. Remember, this is Avalon, so anything is possible. Team 3, I want you to identify the kid…"

"Oh no… That's little Saito" said a voice.

Kutimura stopped her briefing and turned. One of the analysts, Nara, stepped forward.

"You know this kid, Nara?"

"That's Saito Hiraga. He lives two doors down. His parents said he never came home yesterday. They filed a missing persons report earlier today"

Kutimura digested this information. This changed things.

"Alright, Nara, you're in charge of team 3. Compile everything we can find on Saito. The rest of you, you know your assignments. Someone find me that missing persons report. We need to get ahead of this before the public finds out" she ordered.

"Any videos of this oval thing are now top secret. Let's get to it people. Kimura, get ahold of Brussels. Let them know we've got a lead"

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _Aprl 13, 2012_

"So you're saying that this oval-portal-type thing was our breach, and that it picked up a teenager in the middle of the largest city in the world, and transported him to Avalon?" asked Reynolds incredulously.

" _That's the working theory at the moment. This anomaly was clearly of an Avalon nature. It seemed to only be visible to him. In that case, we're lucky the cameras caught it at all"_ replied Kutimura.

"Indeed. Now the question is, where in Avalon, and is he even still alive?"

" _That's the one question we're not sure of. Again, we're talking about magic, and this oval thing seemed to target only him. I'm going to out on a limb and say that_ _something_ _wanted him in Avalon. So I'm willing to wager he's alive somewhere on that world"_

"The question then becomes: Where?"

* * *

 _July, 2012, Europe_

It wasn't until nearly three months later that the question of "where" would finally be answered.

As they'd done since their inception, SWORD kept tabs on the political climate of Halkeginia.

With that, those at SWORD could only watch in despair as Albion was overrun by the Reconquista, and then set its sights on the small country of Tristain.

Even if they had the means to intervene, SWORD's primary mandate was to observe. Drawing inspiration from a particularly popular sci-fi series, they were expressly forbidden from interfering with what they saw as a primitive culture.

Still, they could only watch in despair through the window portals as a massive Albionian armada approached Tristain.

Just as all hope seemed to fade for the Tristanians, the most unexpected thing occurred.

Out of nowhere, a World War II era fighter plane appeared and engaged the Albionian fleet. Not just any fighter plane. A Zero fighter. One of the most infamous fighter planes of the war.

The Zero tore through the Albionians, ripping the dragon riders and several ships to shreds with its machine guns.

Then out of the blue, a massive explosion tore through the heart of the fleet, utterly vaporizing almost the entirety of the Albionian Navy.

The Zero fighter, having taken damage, was forced down onto a field.

On Earth, the SWORD surveillance team watching through the portal was speechless as out of the Zero fighter stepped none other than Saito Hiraga, the missing kid from Japan.

* * *

The discovery of Saito Hiraga's whereabouts saw the creation of a three-person team to monitor him. Over the next year, they watched as Saito and his companions, in an almost fairy-tale like manner, saved Tristain and in some cases, all Halkeginia, from one threat after another. For some reason, many major events in Halkeginian affairs involved him and what was later discovered to be the person responsible for summoning him in.

Due to their study, SWORD was aware of the Familiar summoning ceremony that occurred each spring. However, like the native Halkeginians, summoning of humans had not been recorded until Saito Hiraga's case.

They'd identified the summoner as Louise Valliere, the third daughter of an influential Tristanian noble family. Apparently, despite their differences, Hiraga and Valliere had become something of an item, since the two were never far apart, and Hiraga often risked his life to protect her.

All the while, the science teams continued their work on finding a way to cross over themselves. Thus far, their efforts had been fruitless. There had been progress on a theoretical device that could possibly keep open any breaches they found, but they had no means of creating a breach themselves.

Little did they know they would get their chance nearly a year later.

* * *

 _September, 2013, Somewhere in the French Countryside_

 _Merde_ thought Marion Allamel. She was bored. _No_ she thought. _I'm bored as shit_ she corrected herself.

She and the other two that made up the surveillance team tailing Hiraga and Valliere were doing nothing but waiting in their modified van. Their two targets were inside a residence in Galia talking about something. Their lip-reading software could get bits and pieces of the conversations but she personally didn't care.

Most of SWORD were watching the events unfolding in Halkeginia very closely. Apparently, some fool had awoken a giant Ancient Dragon and it was tearing its way through the continent.

"I have movement" said one of the surveillance technicians. "They're stepping outside"

Sitting up from her seat, she watched the screen as the blurry picture of another world showed the duo walking outside.

They noticed the change in the group's faces. Saito, Louise, and their companions, including elves curiously enough seemed to have a renewed sense of hope about them.

The eavesdropping software typed out a few keywords it could discern from their lips.

 _Plan_ , _window, fighter, world_

Valliere then began chanting.

"What do you reckon she's doing?" asked her technician.

" _Je ne sais pas"_ she replied.

Suddenly, their sensor array started going haywire.

"What the hell? I've got a reading! 500 Rels…. 1200 Rels and rising fast! Shit, get on the horn to HQ ASAP!"

In front of the summoner and her familiar, a portal to Tokyo formed.

* * *

 _SWORD HQ, Brussels_

" _Boss, you seeing this?"_ yelled the surveillance technician over the comms line.

"Affirmative" confirmed Reynolds. "The readings are off the chart. Now at 2100 Rels. Get me a target location, now!"

" _Kutimura here. Energy spikes in Tokyo, Reynolds"_ interrupted Kutimura, opening her own communications line from Tokyo. _"BREACH! It's a breach!"_

"I want a location and eyes on that breach and I mean now!" he ordered. "Kutimura, mobilize whatever you've got!"

 _French Countryside_

The surveillance team watched as Hiraga stepped through the portal into Tokyo.

Suddenly, Valliere shut the portal with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"The hell?"

* * *

 _Tokyo_

"Breach just sealed. Energy levels falling back to normal parameters"

Kutimura's heart was racing. _So close_ she thought.

"Ohashi, please tell me we got a location" she asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer.

"Not enough time to triangulate. Best we got is a 3 km radius somewhere in North Tokyo"

Kutimura sighed. They'd been so close.

" _Uh, hello? Did anyone hear us? This is Mobile 1 in France. Hiraga stepped through the portal. He's must be in Tokyo!"_

Kutimura's head shot up. If they could find the kid, they might get some answers.

* * *

Saito paused in front of his parents' house. As his finger hovered over the door chime, he saw his runes on his hand.

A grimace crossed his face. He would return to Halkeginia somehow. No matter what.

"You've been gone a long time, haven't you little Saito? Still thinking of your little pink-haired girlfriend?"

Saito's eyebrows shot up, confused. _What?_

He turned to look behind him. A man and a woman in official looking business dress stood behind him. The man, he identified as his neighbor, Minato Nara.

"Those are the runes, aren't they? The runes of the Gandalfr?" asked Nara.

"H-h-how? What? How do you know about that?" asked Saito incredulously. Suddenly, realization struck him. _They knew about Halkeginia. THEY KNEW ABOUT HALKEGINIA! Maybe they could help him get back!_

"We know quite a bit about your recent adventures Mr. Hiraga" said the woman, finally speaking. "We might be able to help you"

Saito thought about it. His desire to return to Halkeginia was subduing his reason and suspicion at the fact that these two knew of Halkeginia. But he was still suspicious.

"I can see you're a bit suspicious, kiddo. Let's just say we've been monitoring your activities closely since you disappeared. We know about the Ancient Dragon" continued Nara.

"Then you know I have to get back there and stop it" replied Saito.

"Come with us and we might be able to come to an arrangement regarding that"

Saito eyed his neighbor suspiciously.

"How do I know you'll keep your word?"

Nara chuckled.

"Smart kid. Alright, I'll tell you this as a sign of trust. There's a solar eclipse tomorrow that'll pass about 90 kilometers south of Japan."

At this, Saito's eyes widened. Nara smiled and continued.

"You know what that means kiddo. That's your ticket back"

Saito thought about it, then nodded. "Alright, I'll go with you"

"Glad to hear it. One thing though, you can't tell your parents just yet. We've got a cover story for your absence that we need to go over with you".

* * *

 _SWORD HQ, Brussels_

"I don't like it Kutimura. You're taking an awfully big risk here" stated Reynolds.

" _Like it or not, it's all we had, Reynolds. He's a good kid. One of my guys put his ass on the line to vouch for him. The kid will be a useful asset in a place we can't reach. Plus, his little girlfriend might, if not portal us over there, then at least prove useful in finding a way for us to get to Halkeginia ourselves and put a stop to these damn anomalies"_ replied Kutimura.

Reynolds hated to admit it, but Kutimura had a point. The Aural Anomalies were still occurring at an alarming rate. This could be their best chance at finding the source.

" _Besides, it's only a 12 billion yen fighter! We've got plenty of those!"_ added Kutimura, grinning.

"Keep me posted" muttered Reynolds.

* * *

 _The Next Day_

 _Nyutabaru Air Base_

General Tonagawa Hinoshi, base commander of Nyutabaru Air Base in Southern Japan was at his desk when the phone rang.

"Hinoshi"

Hinoshi's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Could you repeat that?"

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _A Few Days Later_

" _Well, isn't that just cute?"_

"Mobile 1, may I remind you that you are there to observe, not remark on Hiraga's wedding"

" _Oh, don't be such a stickler Reynolds! Vraiment, zey are adorable!"_

"Miss Allamel, I would appreciate if you kept your comments to yourself. We still have a job to do. Hiraga still has his end of the agreement to uphold"

Reynolds reflected on the past few days. Kutimura's plan would normally have had him relieving her of duty.

It had taken a great deal of convincing for him to go along with it.

The kid had been given an F-2 fighter and flown it straight into the eclipse. In exchange, Hiraga had told them everything he knew about Halkeginia and magic, including Void Magic.

Ultimately, he'd agreed that once the Ancient Dragon was destroyed, he would return with Louise to answer some more questions. In addition, he would provide intelligence as an on-the-ground asset reporting directly to Reynolds and SWORD. In keeping with their prime directive, he'd declined to send anybody else from Earth to Halkeginia, something which Hiraga was immensely grateful for.

As the jet flew into the eclipse, the science team poured over the data they'd collected from the plane as it passed through.

They'd measured the highest Rel measurements in history: over 4600 Rels in the void between worlds.

What had happened next had been all SWORD had talked about for the past few days.

Hiraga, flying the jet like an ace, unloaded the entirety of its payload into the Ancient Dragon, blasting away its protective shell.

Valliere had then followed up with the largest explosion he'd ever seen. _Void_ he thought, recalling the files sent to him by Kutsimura. _That's what that power is called. Hiraga said she was one of four who possessed it._

The massive Void explosion had utterly vaporized the Dragon. After landing the fighter near the Academy, Hiraga had proposed to Valliere. Which brought Reynolds back to what they were witnessing at the moment. And his previous line of thought on what came next.

 _Your crazy plan worked Kutsimura. Now comes the hard part. Waiting…_

Waiting for Hiraga to uphold his end of the bargain.

* * *

 **And FINALLY that's a wrap on the Prologue. The story begins in earnest next chapter. Hopefully, I haven't missed anything and can finally stop this rapid-fire info dump style of writing and provide a bit more depth. If it feels rushed, I apologize, but I think everyone can agree they want to get on to the story itself.**

 **Reviews = more inspiration to not give up on the story like I did last time!**

 **Also constructive criticism helps me find any flaws I may have missed! That said, flamers will be forced to watch M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender on repeat for all eternity.**


	2. Turbulence May Occur Unexpectedly

**Alright ladies, gentlemen, and those of unspecified gender, this is where the story officially kicks off…**

 **The dates in parentheses are Earth dates to give you an idea of the timeline.**

 **I pulled the first bit from an underrated TV series… First person to guess it (WITHOUT GOOGLING IT) gets a virtual cookie and a shout out in the next chapter.**

 **This is also where we're introduced to our OC, a dude by the name of Victor de la Fuente. Those of you who read the original story will remember him. He's not going to be the shy, quiet type I had in the old story. Though he's Spanish (as in Spain), he's American raised… So he's like any regular 23 year old American guy… He'll cuss, he'll drink, he'll smoke, just like most guys his age. You don't like it? Sue me.**

 **For those of you who feel this might be rushed, or a short chapter, or not enough character development, I went through several drafts of this before giving up and leaving the development for future chapters. Trust me, the pacing just did not work out. You'll learn more about Victor down the line.**

 **I don't own FOZ or the other series. If I did, I would not be rent-poor.**

 **Review time:**

 **Brinyour Melcarth: Thank you**

 **Ridli Scott: Overhaul is definitely a more appropriate term for this. Thanks for the support.**

 **May 2 Guest: "Hurry up". I find it amusing how you just assume I'm going to hurry up simply because you asked "so nicely". The next chapter will go out when I'm damn well ready to release it. Not per your schedule.**

 **Appbeza: Thanks for that and for the PM.**

 **May 3 Guest: ;)**

 **Ospery: Thank you**

* * *

 _Founder's Cathedral, Romalia, Halkeginia_

 _Summer, (2015)_

 _The City of Romalia is known as the center of the Brimiric Faith. The Seat of the Papacy. The rulers of Halkeginia are ultimately bound to the Pope's will. However, as of late, the Church is mired in corruption. Pope Caius II is dead. And the Founder's Throne is the prize desired by all._

The death of the Pope was all the city could talk about. Yet all Giovanni Augustino could think of was who would succeed the pope. He was the attendant and confidant of Cardinal Viscido Sforza, a cunning snake of a man with a silver tongue who'd wormed his way to the upper echelons of the Church hierarchy. However, he owed Viscido his life and was proud to serve the will of the Founder. Which is why he found himself storming into the Papal Palace, weaving through the crowds.

"What have they heard?" he asked the guards as he walked in.

"The Pope breathes his last!" was the reply.

"Founder rest his soul" he muttered, half-heartedly.

Walking to one of the side hallways of the extravagantly decorated church, he pondered the events that had transpired the last few days.

After Pope Vittorio's death at the hands of the Ancient Dragon, the Church had been in turmoil in finding a successor. Vittorio had been the closest the Church had been to finally unifying the different factions within the church towards their ultimate endgame: The Conquest of the Holy Land. Vittorio's possession of the Founder's Void Magic had only strengthened his claim to the Papal Throne.

The different cardinals from across Halkeginia had quickly formed their usual coalitions, each pushing their successor. Ultimately, the moderates had prevailed over the fundamentalists, choosing Pope Caius to lead the Church. Caius had focused mainly on healing the rifts that had formed in the wake of Vittorio's death and reuniting Halkeginia after the Ancient Dragon incident, which had frustrated the fundamentalists since they were more interested in preparing for another crusade to the Holy Lands.

Now with Caius' death, an opportunity had arisen. And Giovanni would ensure his master accomplished what he had set out to do. Turning the corner, he found his longtime mentor waiting for him.

"My lord Cardinal" he greeted the man, bowing slightly.

"Giovanni. We must get you out of here before they lock the doors" he began as they walked through the halls towards the Chamber of Cardinals.

"And so it begins."

"You know what to do?" asked Viscido forcefully.

"Yes, my lord."

"Until the new Pope is elected, it will be anarchy in Romalia; every faction fighting for its own candidate…. Remember if, after the first vote, the Beacon's flames remain red..."

"As you said, my lord Viscido. I know what to do" interrupted Giovanni as he walked on.

Sforza was not convinced. He grabbed and pushed his young protégé up against the wall.

"I have waited a lifetime for this moment, Giovanni. The papacy is finally within our reach" he began in a tone that left no room for argument. "Now, we will go over it _again_. IF we fail at the first vote, I will send word-"

"On the wings of a dove-"

"-names of those Cardinals who need persuading".

"With properties, benefices, and if necessary, gold" finished Giovanni. "They call it simony, Cardinal"

"This may be the first step towards reclaiming the Holy Land. The Founder would forgive us, my son. But I will NOT forgive failure. Am I understood?"

Giovanni nodded. "I will not fail you, Cardinal".

* * *

 _Chamber of Cardinals_

After a week locked in Conclave and two separate rounds of voting with no clear majority, the third round of voting had begun.

"Cardinal Auditore of Aquileia has garnered 2 votes" droned the Dean of the Conclave.

Sforza stood in the center, facing away from the Dean, his mind racing as he hoped his plan had worked.

"Cardinal Valjean of Lutece has garnered 4"

His skin grew cold. _Could this be…_

"Cardinal Sforza of Velena… 7!"

Sforza's knees grew weak as he let himself kneel in prayer, thanking the Founder.

"Cardinal Sforza _has_ the required majority"

Of course, Viscido Sforza knew the Cardinals too well to allow his election to go without challenge or commentary.

"Correction"

 _And of course, it comes from HIM_ he thought.

"Cardinal Sforza has _bought_ the required majority" voiced the leader of the moderates and a constant source of irritation for Sforza: Cardinal Mazarin of Tristain.

One of the fundamentalist Cardinals was quick to respond.

"What exactly is your implication, Mazarin?"

Sforza took this opportunity to address the room.

"His implication is that the Throne of Brimir is for sale" he said, smoothly.

"And has been bought by a brute up to his elbows in simony" added Cardinal Swan of Albion, another moderate.

"I see" replied Sforza, planning his next move. "Then my first act as Pope will be to conduct an inquiry into the elective process. My second act of course, will be to name a Vice Chancellor. As you know, this position is vital to Our Holy Church, and comes with benefits befitting its importance. Naturally, such a position would go to the most qualified and devoted man in this room" he finished, eyeing Cardinal Swan of Albion in particular, who was known to be quite the ambitious weasel.

Some of the other, less idealistic moderates also realized this and backed down. Those loyal to the dead pope, however, remained skeptical.

"If we may continue, Cardinals" interrupted the Dean. "Let the record show that Cardinal Viscido Sforza _has_ the required majority".

Sforza stole a glance at Mazarin as the other Cardinals came to congratulate him. He had a feeling the moderates were going to present a problem towards his reign.

 _What can they do now?_ he wondered. _I have been chosen as the Voice of the Founder now._ A small chuckle escaped his lips, which did not go unnoticed by Mazarin.

* * *

 _September, 2015_

He found himself floating… somewhere. There was nothing around him. It felt like being submerged in a deep ocean.

There was a light in the distance… A glowing figure floating in front of him.

" _Mundalfr_ " the voice echoed ethereally.

" _Mundalfr_ " it repeated.

 _What the hell is it saying?_ he asked himself.

The world suddenly seemed to be permeated by a noise.

The noise morphed into something more familiar.

Sirens. Police sirens

* * *

 _September 21, 2015, Washington, DC_

Sirens. Police sirens blared

Opening his eyes, Victor de la Fuente groaned.

 _Fucking sirens_ he grumbled stumbling out of bed. Outside, a police cruiser sped down the street. _The one downside to living on in the city_ he thought.

Victor was a young man of 23 living alone in Washington, DC. His parents, having died a year prior in a mysterious plane crash off the coast of Europe, had left him enough to live comfortably. The healing process had taken months and had nearly caused him to fail out of school, but he had finally made it on his own, now living in a small, sparsely furnished apartment in the heart of Washington, DC.

Getting out of bed, he thought back to last night's dream. He couldn't remember it though he did remember there was a glowing figure that had said something he couldn't understand.

Checking his phone, he frowned when he saw who had texted him sometime during the night.

" _Victor, please talk to me. I know we didn't leave off on the best terms but believe me I still wanna be friends."_

 _Of course she does_ he thought sarcastically. The text was from Erin, the one girl he'd met who in his opinion was as crazy as he was. They both shared the same interests, yet she only saw him as a friend, something that had thrown him into a melancholic funk when he'd come clean about how he felt about her.

He quickly typed out a response.

" _Look, I just need some time alone. I've got a wedding to go to halfway across the world and I'm taking some time off to relax for a bit before coming back. Yes, I'm fine with being friends but I need some space and time. I'll get over it eventually and then we'll hang out and have a drink when I get back. Ok?" SEND_

 _Of course she does_ he thought sarcastically. The text was from Erin, the one girl he'd met who in his opinion was as crazy as he was. For the past few months, she had been a casual thing that had, at least to him, moved towards something more. But when he'd told her as much, she'd said the exact opposite of what he'd wanted to hear.

An old friend from his time studying abroad was getting married in Australia and he'd been invited to the wedding in Gold Coast. Which explained the half-full suitcase beside his bed.

Moving towards the kitchen, he made himself some coffee while he mentally went over his schedule for the day. He still had some packing to do before heading to Dulles for a cross-country flight to Los Angeles. From there, he'd hop on another flight to Sydney.

 _Bzt bzt_

Checking his phone again he saw Erin's reply.

" _Ok. I'll hold you to that. Safe travels!"_

* * *

 _Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California_

 _Tom Bradley International Terminal, Gate 132_

 _9 PM_

Though the sun may have set over the City of Angels, Los Angeles International Airport was very much alive and active even late at night.

The evening rush for the trans-Pacific red-eye flights was just about to get underway.

One such flight was Oceanic 29.

A 787 operated by the second most well-known Australian airline, Oceanic 29 was only about half full this evening, a fact Captain Frank Rollins was thankful for as it meant he and his first officer Seth Lapidus would have a lighter aircraft to work with.

As he performed his walk-around outside the aircraft, the passengers prepared to board.

* * *

(pant pant) _I… fucking… hate… LAX…_ thought Victor as he sprinted to the departure gate. His flight from DC had been forced to hold over LAX due to traffic, meaning he was cutting it very close for his connection to Sydney.

Rushing through the terminal, out of breath, he finally made it to gate 132 just as the first boarding calls were being made.

Victor, against his nature, had decided to skimp on this flight and fly Business so he could get some sleep. Thus he'd made it just as his boarding group was called.

* * *

Captain Rollins made it back to the flight deck just as the first passengers were beginning to board.

"Nothing to report on the walk-around, mate?" asked Lapidus.

"Nope. All clear. Begin pre-departure checklist".

Meanwhile, Victor walked on board and found his seat, 3K. He looked around, noticing the Business Class cabin wasn't as full as he'd expected.

Most of the passengers walked past him as they headed back.

With the cabin doors closed, the 787 pushed back from the gate and got into line for takeoff while the pilots continued their checklists to ensure a smooth flight.

* * *

"Before takeoff checklist complete" quipped Seth.

"Care to do the honors?" asked the Captain, smiling.

"Los Angeles Tower, Oceanic 29 Heavy at runway 25 Right ready to takeoff"

"Oceanic 29 Heavy, clear for takeoff 25 Right"

"Clear for takeoff 25 Right, Oceanic 29 Heavy"

"Takeoff power. Your aircraft" ordered the captain.

"My aircraft"

Both pilots placed their hands on the throttles and pushed forward. Immediately, the plane's two massive GEnx turbofan engines roared to life and the plane thundered down the runway. The pilots watched the airspeed indicator climb quickly.

"80 knots"

"Checked"

"V-1" called the automated voice as the aircraft reached the speed where it must continue with the takeoff or risk a runway overrun.

"V-1" replied the captain. "Rotate". The First Officer pulled back on the yoke and at 9:34 PM, the plane lifted off into the midnight sky.

It quickly climbed to its assigned cruise altitude and both the crew and the passengers settled in for the 14 and a half hour flight to Australia.

* * *

 _Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean_

The shaking woke him up.

Victor's eyes shot open.

The plane was shaking.

 _Turbulence_ he figured.

Looking around, he saw most of the other passengers were still sleeping, though a few had been jolted awake.

(DING)

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, we seem to have run into a few bumps, please fasten your seatbelts until the sign is turned off"_

Victor was used to flying so he wasn't worried. He was rather irritated he'd been awoken with more than 9 hours still to go.

His irritability disappeared when the plane shook violently. Someone cried out as it shook again.

The plane suddenly dropped like a rock as someone screamed.

Victor grabbed the seat rest. _Air pocket_ he reassured himself, though a part of his mind was not so sure.

Glancing outside, he saw lightning flashing. Bolts struck the plane itself.

 _Ok, this is definitely not normal_ he thought, worried.

The shaking was now nothing like he'd ever experienced.

Outside, he could hear the whine of the engines increasing as the wings flexed and bounced from the shaking.

The cabin lights flickered as people started screaming.

 _I'm gonna die here…_ thought Victor. _I'm gonna die in a plance crash…_

"We're gonna crash!" someone screamed.

Suddenly, there was a flash outside, as the entire plane seemed to be suspended in midair. Loose articles and food items floated for the briefest of seconds as the flash illuminated the entire cabin. And then it was gone.

Everything came crashing down. The shaking stopped. Sunlight filtered in through the windows.

 _Wait… Sunlight?_ thought Victor. He leaned over to look out the window. The other passengers had noticed it too. It was daytime outside.

Victor only had the briefest of moments to take in what he saw as the plane suddenly pitched up and the engines accelerated to max power. Moving back to the window he confirmed what he'd just seen.

The plane was much lower to the ground than it had been as it climbed back into the clouds. They were over green countryside. Behind them, some sort of castle dominated the landscape.

Looking around, that's when he first noticed it. The moon… Or rather moons. Two of them…

* * *

 **If you read my first attempt at this story, you probably saw this coming. If you didn't, welcome. It only gets crazier from here.**

 **Honestly, there will be no release schedule. These first few chapters might come out a bit faster because I already wrote them (I'm working on Chapter 5 right now) but if I do end up with a long time between releases, I apologize.**

 **Read and review! I enjoy reviews and consider constructive criticism useful… But keep it civil… I'm looking at you, Guest Review No. 1  
**


	3. Surely, You Can't Be Serious?

**EDIT: Check out my profile page for some character images.**

 **All right folks, here we're reintroduced to our favorite Japanese familiar and his (slightly) hot-tempered wife.**

 **Remember, it's been 2 years since the end of canon and the prologue.**

 **Louise did not whip Saito during the anime. Whipping means Saito would have scars all over his body. If you've seen pictures of what whipping does, then you'll know. This Saito has more backbone. Sure Louise was crazy but she would not casually lob concussive blasts at Saito whenever he did something stupid. Saito on the other hand, was not nearly as perverted, nor as spineless as he was in canon.**

 **EASTER EGGS: The first bit of the previous chapter were taken from the opening episode of "The Borgias". Let's see if anyone can find the easter eggs/movie references in this chapter.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Ridli Scott: You're slightly on the right track hehehe**

 **Reishin Amara: Many thanks. There are pieces from the old story in this chapter but there is a lot of new material is going into the story moving forward**

 **Appbeza: Yes here is where the chapters start to get a bit longer. The two scientists will be coming back later on but not for a few chapters. You'll see how I expose the Avalonians to Earth and vice versa.**

 **Brinyour Melcarth: Many thanks. I'm glad to see you're enjoying it.**

 **I don't own shit. If I did, I would probably eat sushi the rest of my life.**

* * *

 _Des Ornieres Estate, Tristain, Halkeginia_

 _Autumn, (2015)_

The sun shone through the window of the master bedroom of the Des Ornieres Estate, casting its brightness on one of the occupants of the room.

 _Ugh…_ he thought. _Damn you sunlight. Why did I forget to close the curtains?_ he wondered. He flipped the covers off himself and sat up on the side of the bed and looked outside at the window. The sun was just high enough to peek above the trees.

Giving his back a stretch and hearing a few satisfying cracks, Saito Hiraga de Ornieres stood up and gazed at the forest outside.

If one were to look at Saito as he'd looked two years ago fighting the Ancient Dragon, he'd barely be recognizable anymore.

He'd always been a short skinny kid but a mere few months after permanently relocating to Des Ornieres, he'd begun a growth spurt that had, in his own personal opinion, been long overdue.

His face had become more masculine and his hair had grown longer and wilder. His facial hair had also begun to grow, though he preferred to keep it shaven.

Perhaps the most striking change was his physique. After years of training with swords, his muscles had grown impressively. As had his skill with swords. He could now easily wield a large two-handed sword with one hand. It hadn't always been like that though.

After Derflinger's old body was destroyed, he'd resided in Saito's runes for a while. At least until Bidashal had been able to enchant a blade to be strong enough to accept Derf and helped him transfer Derf's consciousness into the new blade.

As Saito stood up, he looked over to the bed, smiling happily at seeing the other occupant of the bed still fast asleep.

Louise had also changed quite a bit the past few years. She was no longer the short, petite, impatient girl Saito had met all those years ago at the Academy.

Like Saito, Louise had undergone a growth spurt about three months after the Ancient Dragon Crisis. She'd grown taller. And most importantly, at least in her opinion, puberty had finally caught up to her, much to Siesta's dismay. Louise now greatly resembled her sister Cattleya, save for her straighter hair.

Louise's physical appearance wasn't the only thing that had changed. Saito remembered exactly when he'd first noticed the changes in her personality.

During one of their visits to the in-laws in Japan, Saito's father had jokingly commented that there must be something in the water at Des Ornieres seeing as the both of them had grown so quickly, especially Louise. Saito's face had paled at the implications of this comment and he'd nearly instinctively ducked, expecting an explosion to be flung at his father.

However, surprisingly, Louise had simply smiled and laughed it off.

 _She really has changed_ he thought looking at her sleep. Of course she'll never admit that. She's too damn proud to admit it. Louise's demeanor had definitely changed the past three years. Rather than exploding at the slightest provocation of any kind, she'd become more tolerant and her attitude had brightened somewhat. Her tsundere tendencies had diminished.

She'd come to realize that Saito loved her no matter what and that she loved him just as much. She'd come to trust him immensely. And she'd realized that Saito was his own person and that she couldn't control every aspect of his life.

Saito grabbed a shirt and went downstairs for breakfast. Siesta was already in the kitchen along with the other kitchen staff. Having known Saito the longest, she'd been made the head of housing staff for the Des Ornieres Estate. She'd changed a bit as well since the Ancient Dragon Crisis. She'd grown a bit taller but still retained her youthful and Japanese looks.

"Good morning Siesta" greeted Saito, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh! Lord Saito! Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Siesta. For the last time. Please call me Saito. You've known me for three years. I'd think we'd gotten past formalities. Besides, it's just us at Des Ornieres. No uptight nobles around here. And yeah I slept pretty well. How was your night?" he replied.

"I slept well. You really do spoil us Lo… I mean Saito. Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure. I'll take some eggs and buttered bread for now. Louise might be down in a few minutes so can you make one for her too?."

"Of course, my lord" she replied.

"Siestaaa…. What did I just say about formalities?" he chided.

"Eep! Sorry!" she apologized.

Saito merely smiled. They'd known each other for years and she still could not help addressing him formally since he'd been awarded his lands and nobility.

Leaving the kitchen Saito went back upstairs to see if Louise was awake yet. He found her still fast asleep so he kissed her on her pink head to wake her.

"Mmmmm well that's one way to be woken up in the morning."

"Morning Louise. Sleep well?" he asked.

"Well enough if it weren't for a certain loud mouthed familiar snoring half the night" she replied.

"Sorry I snore! I can't do anything when I'm sleeping!" he remarked, trying to defend himself.

"Hmph. I guess I'll have to forgive you for that. Just this once" she replied smiling. Even after a few years of Louise's changed demeanor, she still liked jokingly reverting to her tsundere tendencies to get a rise out of her husband.

They both went down to the kitchen where Siesta was laying down Saito and Louise's breakfast.

Saito and Louise did things a bit differently from other nobles. Saito was never one for formalities and lavish meals. Their meals were not a massive banquet, their formal dining room with its large table was only used when company was over.

Instead, they ate at a smaller table near the kitchens, making the kitchen staff's jobs much easier.

As breakfast was eaten, small talk regarding the day's plans crossed the table. Mainly, the talk had to do with Saito and Louise's planned visit to the Academy that afternoon.

Things had changed at the academy after the Ancient Dragon Crisis. Nearly a year after the events of that day, Old Osmond had finally passed away at the ripe old age of 88. In his stead, Professor Jean Colbert had been named headmaster.

Colbert's tenure as headmaster had brought about a new era of magical and technological learning. Thanks in no small part to Saito's knowledge and his providing of books from Earth, the academy had become the leading institution in research for the advancement of technology in Halkeginia.

Already, research was being made into combustion engines. Colbert was intent on replicating the incredible engine of the Zero and upgrading the Ostland's engines with combustion engines rather than coal and steam engines.

Knowing how the technological revolution had gone in his world, Saito had told Colbert about the First Industrial Revolution back on Earth, and coached him on what had been done right, and what could have been done better.

The last thing Saito wanted was Tristain becoming a dirty, polluted, industrial country like England had become during the dawn of the Industrial Age.

Thus Saito had become the de-facto expert on any artifacts or technology that made it into Halkeginia through the mysterious means by which technology from Earth appeared in Halkeginia on its own.

Thanks to SWORD, he had some guidance on how to go about bettering life for Halkeginia. In exchange, he had to do a little investigative work himself.

Saito's deal with SWORD had entailed that he provide the group with intelligence and information directly from Alfheim. They'd been debriefed by the organization on their first visit to Japan as newlyweds and had come to an understanding.

Books and texts on magic and Halkeginian history, as well as information would be sent back via Louise's world door for study and analysis. His primary mission, however, was to investigate the source of the anomalies plaguing Earth and how its weapons ended up in Halkeginia.

Saito and Louise had agreed with SWORD's analysis that Void magic was involved in the energy spikes. After many long talks with Colbert on possible hypotheses, they'd agreed that the appearances of Earth weaponry in Halkeginia also had something to do with the Void. Information on that topic was scarce however. The Church kept the many details of the Founder's magic secret and convincing officials in Romalia to allow them access had so far been unsuccessful. Colbert had mentioned a possible lead at their last meeting but he had not divulged much.

In the two years since the Ancient Dragon Crisis, had also taken it upon himself to find and safeguard any dangerous technologies that made it through. Already in his manor and in the vaults of the Academy, he had an arsenal of weapons he'd found that could arm a small village.

Any attempts at stealing said arsenal had been discouraged by the fact that the Earth-born lord's wife had blown up the last person who'd tried to enter the vault below his house. That particular thief had been lucky to hobble away with his remaining leg.

Finishing his breakfast, Saito stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, recalling the reason they were going to the Academy today.

Louise's void magic was failing to connect to Earth. As of the previous 4 months, anything they sent through the portal to Earth was having trouble getting through. The portals could not get a solid lock on one location on Earth, instead wavering and jumping around from place to place. Portals within Halkeginia worked fine however, which puzzled Louise even more.

Nevertheless, Saito and Lousie were hesitant to step through and risk losing an arm or a leg. Thus, travel between the two worlds was, for the moment, prohibited. Saito had hoped the last message he'd sent through the portal had gotten to SWORD somehow.

 _Portals not working correctly. May be tied to anomalies. Working to find solution._

Being cut off left a bad taste in his mouth, seeing as the secretive organization had done much to help him and now he wasn't holding up his end of the bargain.

The plan for the day was to head to the Academy and see if Colbert had found some answers. Saito smiled at this thought, knowing it meant they'd see Tiffania again.

Tiffania had become somewhat of a celebrity at the Academy for her role in fighting alongside Saito and Louise. After Colbert took over as headmaster, he'd offered her a teaching position to teach about their pointy-eared fellow sapients from the East. She also taught alteration spells, mainly memory, illusion, and healing spells. When she wasn't teaching, she lived at Des Ornieres along with Saito and Louise.

Though some cried heresy at the thought of an elf teaching at The Academy, many saw it as a sign of new times and tolerance and cooperation between the two races.

The Church's official position was still one of condemnation of the "savages" that defiled their Founder's Holy Land. Tiffania's appointment as a professor had drawn sharp criticism from Romalia, which had been staunchly defended by Tristain's more moderate Cardinal Mazarin.

* * *

The ride to the Academy was not a long one. Rather than take a carriage, Saito and Louise rode their horses straight there. It gave them an opportunity to ride through their fields. Des Ornieres was primarily wine country, producing some of the finest wines in Tristain. Though no one knew, Saito had snuck a few books on vineyards from Earth and had put the techniques to good use.

Going at a decent canter, they arrived in little more than an hour. As they rode up to the Academy, Saito glanced next the Academy.

There, in a giant makeshift hangar, the Osltand was parked along with the F-2 Saito had been allowed to commandeer. After he'd flown it to the Academy, Colbert had ordered the hangar commissioned, as well as a dirt runway, in order to test his inventions and allow Saito to land his plane with ease. The old Zero was also there, having been magically reverted to its original state by Colbert for further study.

Upon walking through the gates and to the Stables, they came across a familiar face: the head chef, Marteau.

"Our Sword! And Lady Valliere! What a pleasant surprise it is to see the two of you here!" he waved.

"Marteau! It's been too long!" replied Saito, walking over and shaking his hand.

"Chef Marteau" greeted Louise cordially.

"I see Siesta's been keeping the two of you well fed"

"Yes, she has. Sorry we kinda stole her from you" Saito retorted sheepishly.

"Think nothing of it! From what I've seen in her letters to the staff here, she's well off at your estate"

"Well we do our best to make sure our staff are kept happy" added Louise.

"Believe me when I say that is a fact we commoners are eternally grateful for. It seems your philosophy has caught on here as well. When Headmaster Colbert took over, we here were given a nice raise. And it seems that since then, the students here also treat us quite cordially." he replied.

"A lot of things have changed from back then" added Louise. "My apologies if I was ever rude to you or the staff"

"Oh please. With what the two of you have done for us and the country, no apology is necessary. Feel free to stop by the kitchens later for something fresh!" he smiled. "Unfortunately, I'm needed in the kitchens so I must take my leave"

"No, of course Marteau. We're actually here on business so don't let us keep you. We'll try to stop by later!" replied Saito. Marteau smiled and walked off to the kitchens.

As Saito and Louise started up towards the central tower and headmaster's office, Louise couldn't help but reminisce on her days as a student. _Things were so different back then_ she thought. _I was different back then_ she thought bittersweetly. Looking at Saito, she noticed he seemed to be reminiscing as well.

 _I guess I didn't treat him very well at first_ she thought, slightly ashamed at herself. Yet despite all that, the young boy she'd unwittingly pulled into a world not of his own had grown fond of her and even fallen in love with her, despite all that. And she'd done the same.

She grabbed his hand and held it as they walked into the Alviss hall, Saito smiling at this. There were a few students in the hall reading or studying. The couple quickly scurried to the stairs to avoid any admirers. Their status as demi-celebrities after defeating the Ancient Dragon, along with their rather unique appearances made it quite easy to recognize them.

Walking up the stairs, they made it to the Headmaster's office. Knocking, they were let in by the secretary. At the far end of the office sat Jean Colbert, now headmaster of the Academy.

"Ah. Sir Saito and Lady Louise. I'm glad you could make it. I saw you ride in. I hope the ride wasn't too tiring" he greeted.

"Of course not Headmaster. It was a pleasant ride" replied Louise.

"How have things been here?" asked Saito.

"Well the new curricula have officially been implemented. I've been making progress on that combustion engine you showed me... The tricky part is getting the right fuel mixture for the engine. For some reason it simply blows up for me" he added sheepishly. "I can't get it to work quite as well as that Metal Drag... er… aero plane? That we found in Tarbles"

"Don't fret it old man" said Saito smiling. "It took the humans on Earth years to perfect their designs. You gotta remember they also developed coal and steam much more than you have. I'd say here you're trying to run before you learn how to walk"

"Hmm true, but I have been working on improving the steam engines as well, my boy" replied the bald headmaster. "That 'train' idea of yours sounds very interesting. Perhaps one day, we could connect our countries much like Earth has done. But enough about my inventions. You're probably wondering why I've asked you here".

"Oh, you mean you didn't invite us over just because you missed your two favorite troublemakers?" said Louise coyly.

"While it's always a pleasure to catch up, you give yourself far too much credit, Lady Valliere" replied Colbert smirking. "If I recall, I was very much a part of your troublemaking. But that's not why I've asked you here. I've been looking into your situation regarding your World Door. There is also another matter that ties into this, one which requires Professor Westwood".

"Marie Ann" he said, turning to his secretary. "Would you be a dear and go find Professor Westwood and ask her to join us here? Then afterwards, why don't you go get yourself a nice cup of tea? It is quite a lovely day today".

"Of course professor" replied the secretary, excusing herself.

The three made idle chitchat as they waited for their half-elven friend to join them. The door soon opened and through walked Professor Tiffania Westwood.

Tiffania Westwood hadn't changed all that much the past four years. She'd grown slightly taller. However, her face still retained the beauty and youth she'd had when they'd first met.

"Saito! Louise!" she said walking over to them.

"Tiffa! It's been a while!" replied Saito giving her a hug.

"It's good to see you again Tiffania" said Louise, getting a hug from the blonde half-elf as well.

"Yes. We haven't seen each other since spring. How have you two been?"

"Very well. The seeds were planted on schedule and we should have another harvest of fine wine before winter" replied Louise.

"Excellent. Now that we're all here, I hoped we could get down to business" said Colbert.

At this, the mood in the room turned serious.

"As you all know" began Colbert, "I have been attempting to research the effects of Void Magic and their relationship to the World Door Spell. Though the Academy's Library contains a trove of information regarding magic, specifics on the Founder's magic are quite limited".

"I have been corresponding with Romalia over the past several months on this matter and they have not been forthcoming either. However, with the recent election of a new pope, I thought I'd try my luck again. And surprisingly, I received a response last week".

Saito's eyebrows shot up. Glancing at Louise, he could see she was thinking the same thing. _Please say they'll send us something._

"The letter stated that they would be open to allowing you two to study the materials in the Romalian Archives, under supervision of course. However, they do have some conditions in exchange"

Louise narrowed here eyes. She did not like where this was going.

"The Pope's advisor told me that they'd recently found the Romalian Void Mage, a boy studying at the Romalian Mages Academy, when he summoned his brother. With this, the Four Void Mages are now known, after Queen Charlotte's sister Josette, summoned Julio Chesare last year. Professor Westwood, however, remains without a Familiar. As you know Saito, the runes marking you as Lifdrasir disappeared after you destroyed the Ancient Dragon".

"Yeah, we finally figured out what they actually did, to tell you the truth. We were reading Louise's prayer book wrong" confessed Saito, sheepishly. "The runes didn't actually take my life force. They actually acted as a conduit to draw in magical energy from nature. If I hadn't given Louise all my power, they would have recharged".

"Regardless, the new Pope has summoned the two of you and Miss Westwood to Romalia in a month's time. He has stated he will allow us access to the Romalian Archives then. However, there is one other condition…"

Louise did not like where this was going. The last thing she wanted to be involved with was the Church, especially after the whole Ancient Dragon fiasco.

"The second condition is why I've asked you to join us Miss Westwood. The second condition is that you must resummon your familiar, Lifdrasir"

No one spoke. Louise was not happy. Saito was confused. Tiffania seemed both confused and worried.

The fact that Tiffania had not resummoned a familiar after the Ancient Dragon Crisis was not lost on anyone in the room. However, the thinking at the time had been that since the crisis had passed, there had been no need to summon someone again.

Lady Josette's summoning of Julio Chesare had been unintentional, as no one expected the Gallian Void Magic to emerge so soon after Joseph's death.

"Now you're not expected in Romalia until next month. But the Pope stated he wants all four Void Mages and their Familiars there. I wager even without our request, it would only have been a matter of time before they insisted on you summoning your familiar, Professor" finished Colbert.

Tiffania seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

Saito's thinking was along the same lines

"She should summon the fourth Familiar" came a voice no one expected.

Saito, recognizing the voice immediately, unsheathed his sword.

"Derf?"

"The half-elf should summon her familiar. And soon" began the sentient sword. "There's a storm coming partner. And you're going to need all the help you can get"

Everyone was confused at this.

"The hell you talking about, Derf? I thought the danger was over. We already saved everyone two years ago. What else could there be that needs all four of us? And why the hell are we just hearing about this now?"

"I haven't had this feeling since before the Ancient Dragon came. Something's coming, partner. Something that's going to affect all of Halkeginia. And you all best be prepared when it arrives. That girl is going to need a Familiar".

"That's ridiculous! How can you know something's coming, and NOT know what it is?" shouted Louise.

"As you meatbags say, it's just a gut feeling I have. Irritating woman" mumbled Derflinger. Saito immediately leapt for Louise as the inevitable outburst erupted.

"WHAT WAS THAT? STUPID SWORD! HOW BOUT I MELT YOU DOWN INTO A CHAMBER POT YOU OVERGROWN, INCONSIDERATE KITCHEN KNIFE!" she shouted. Though tamed after three years, Louise's legendary temper was still as very much active.

Colbert and Tiffania watched on in amusement as Saito wrestled his irate wife.

"Derflinger, be nice. You wouldn't want me calling you 'that inconsiderate sword I carry on my back' would you?" chided Saito as he finally calmed Louise down.

"Hey! I'm the Great Derflinger! I've fought countless battles! I'm the all-powerful sword of…" the rest was cut off as Saito merely pushed the sword back into its sheathe.

"Rudeness aside," continued Saito, "we'll have to look into that later. I'll be having a nice little chat with my loud-mouthed sword tonight".

"Tiffa? We haven't heard from you about this yet. What do you think you should do?" he asked, turning towards Tiffania.

Tiffania's mind was racing. _Should I? For the longest time I wanted someone like Saito, but… That would mean someone might be separated from their home. The Church might force me to. They already dislike me. And the sword's warning…_

"I don't know… The last time the sword gave a warning, we were almost eaten by a Dark Dragon… I… I need to think about this. While it would be nice to have a Familiar to help out, the fact that it would be a human…"

"Yeah... I know what you mean" added Saito. "It took me a while to adjust, but in my case it worked out for the better" he said looking at Louise, who sent a small smile back.

"But the person I summon might not be so open. There's no way of knowing until I do…"

Louise, who had stayed silent until this point suddenly spoke.

"You don't have to summon someone unknown…"

Saito and Tiffania's heads snapped towards Louise.

"You don't have to summon someone unknown because… Wait… You didn't think of this?" she asked.

Everyone just looked at each other, confused. Louise smirked mischeviously.

"Yes, if you have an idea, we'd all be very excited to hear it, Louise" said Saito.

"I'm surprised. This is odd. You always seem to know everything; you have this different way of thinking, Saito. Is this how you feel all the time?"

"Louise!" shouted Saito impatiently.

Chuckling, Louise simply smiled and turned to Tiffania.

"You could just summon Saito again!"

Saito looked at her. Then it finally dawned on him.

 _In Albion! When we first fought Sheffield! Louise! She…_

"Louise! You're a genius!" he shouted hugging her.

Colbert and Tiffania looked at the duo confused.

"Umm could you please explain what you're thinking Saito?" he asked.

Separating, Louise began.

"In Albion, Saito lost his runes as a familiar after he… died" she said hesitantly.

"But when he came back and we went looking for Tiffania, we ran into Sheffield. I was running out of options and Saito was nowhere near me. So I performed the familiar summoning spell, focusing on nothing but Saito. And he appeared through the portal! Tiffa, maybe if you do the same, you'll summon him again!"

Saito was beaming. "Tiffa! That means you don't have to worry about separating someone from their family! Er… I mean that's if Louise is fine with me being Tiffa's familiar again" he finished nervously eyeing Louise.

"Well…" she began, taking her old, sassy tone. "It's not my _favorite_ plan, but if it helps Tiffa, then I guess I could allow it" she finished smirking.

Tiffania looked at the two and smiled.

"Hmmm this could work" said Colbert, adding his perspective. "The familiar summoning spell is not very well understood, but what is known is that it seeks out the best candidate for the summoner. If Saito here was already summoned once, it's likely he'll be summoned again".

Tiffania was beaming at this point. This meant she would be able to spend more time with Saito. Having long since dismissed her attraction as a naïve crush, her love for him was as a friend and protector. _Someone I'd be happy to mark as my familiar again._

"I'll do it" she said determined.

"I'm here already. We can do it now if you want!" added Saito.

At that moment, his stomach decided to say otherwise.

"Uh, maybe after lunch?"

* * *

Being the Day of Void, the students had the day off. As such, the dining room was not too crowded as most students preferred their meals in their own rooms. After a brief lunch, the trio and Colbert proceeded to the Vestri Court for the summoning. Some curious students during tagged along, curious at the unusual spectacle.

Giving Tiffania plenty of room, Colbert spoke.

"Whenever you're ready Professor."

Tiffania felt confident in herself. Steeling herself, she raised her wand in front of her and began her incantation, focusing solely on Saito.

"My name is Tiffania Westwood. Pentagon that governs the five elements. Heed my call and bring forth my familiar". _Saito, Saito, Saito, Saito, Saito is my familiar._

Light gathered upon her wand and the usual green oval appeared in front of her.

Saito saw the portal open and moved to enter it.

As his hand made contact with the oval, it hit something solid. Saito, curious, pushed again. The oval pulsed and threw him back towards Louise.

"Agh! Ufff…." he cried out. Picking himself up, he looked at Tiffa, who showed concern on her face.

She wasn't the only one. Colbert and Louise seemed to be thinking the same thing.

 _If I'm not the familiar, then this could be a problem._

"Saito, Saito, Saito" they could hear Tiffa chanting.

Saito tried again, only to be thrown back harder, bowling into Colbert.

"It's not me. I'm not the target" he said dejectedly, dusting himself.

Tiffa looked at him nervously as she held her wand up. She thought about cancelling the spell but the oval chose at that moment to react. It flared suddenly, and Tiffania felt her magic draining fast. She tried to cancel the spell but she could not stop the flow of magic.

"Cancel the spell, Tiffa!" yelled Saito, hearing Tiffania straining.

"I can't!" she replied, furiously willing her arm to drop the wand. She felt herself growing weak.

Saito rushed up to force her to drop her wand but as he made contact with Tiffania, the oval reacted once more.

It contracted suddenly and then shot up at great speed towards a great altitude.

It kept climbing past the top of the Academy Tower. All the way until it reached a great height.

A great white flash suddenly appeared. Its brightness was overwhelming.

And just as suddenly as the orb had exploded, the blinding brightness died down. As everyone stared, Saito's gaze fell back to Tiffania who was panting heavily. Saito saw her wobbling and moved to catch her as she fainted, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

Everyone else who had been watching rushed to Tiffania. Colbert began diagnostic spells on her, quickly deducing she was suffering from magical exhaustion.

"She'll be fine, she just needs rest" he assured the group. Any further conversation was halted by the presence of an unusual noise.

Looking up, Saito saw a metal glint quickly speeding away from where the orb had just been.

The others gathered in the field saw it too as it sped away. Looking closely, it looked like a giant dragon that seemed to be made of metal.

To Saito's eyes, however, the sight sent a chill down his spine.

 _No way_ he thought.

 _It can't be. Please not that…_

The sound it made all but confirmed it. A sound made by a very specific piece of technology from his homeworld.

 _The sound of an airliner in the sky._

Everyone was baffled as to what that was and where it was going as the object quickly climbed back into the sky and headed away from the Academy. Saito however knew exactly what it was. However unlikely, he knew. And he paled at the repercussions of what had just happened.

Tiffania's presumed familiar had been on board an airplane.

And she'd summoned the whole damn thing to Halkeginia.

* * *

 _SWORD HQ, Brussells, Belgium_

 _Moments before_

Alarm bells blared throughout the bunker where SWORD was headquartered.

"What have we got?" demanded Reynolds.

"Energy spike over the Pacific! 1100 Rels and climbing like a rocket!"

A few tense moments passed as the sensor room staff watched the readout climbing.

"Confirmed! It's going to be a breach! Now at 3300 Rels!"

People shouted off readings and useless data. Reynolds rubbed at the headache that was sure to come.

"Guys, I need order. Get me an exact location and get the Australian Division on the horn" barked Reynolds.

Having done this before dozens of times, the control room was moving even before Reynolds had finished his sentence.

He studied the main display in front of him, showing the map and approximate location of the anomaly. This one was among the most powerful ever recorded.

The screen then began beeping suddenly.

"Breach is collapsing. Energy levels falling back within normal parameters".

Reynolds studied the map carefully. Something did not feel right. This had only happened before once where an unusually powerful spike was recorded only to vanish moments later.

 _When Hiraga first disappeared._

 _Wonder what the kid's up to_ he thought, thinking back to when contact with Hiraga had been lost 4 months prior.

And the cryptic message that had popped into the usual briefing room, sheared in half with the edges burnt:

 _Portals not working. May be tied to-_

Looking back at the screen at the latest Aural Anomaly to be registered, he glanced at the unusually high Rel readings.

"Something, sure the hell ain't right" he said out loud.

* * *

 **Read and review! Trust me, every review helps... They help push me to keep going even after a 9-6 workday. Plus, some give me some good ideas to add in.  
**


	4. I Am Serious

**Hey everyone! Chapter 3! Review please!**

 **Keep in mind, the Australian characters have, well Australian accents.**

 **Nobody has spotted any of the easter eggs/references yet…**

 **Review responses:**

 **Reishin Amara: hehehe it's going to get even crazier**

 **Appbeza: yes, I was planning on doing something along those lines where the action jumps between events on Avalon and events on Earth**

 **New Universe Returns: haha thanks. And alright, I'll leave my pathetic excuse of a first attempt up then**

 **Ridli Scott: yeah, I'm trying to make this story a bit more serious and realistic so I changed her a bit… She still jokes around and is prone to outbursts, as we saw, but they're far and few in between and usually justified**

 **david: nene, no voy a entrar en eso. Ya veras como escribo la influencia de los contratos. Pero por ahora, Saito, de alguna manera u otra se enamoro de Louise, SIN alguna influencia ajena. Ya, se acabo la discusion.**

* * *

 _ **Previously on Convergence:**_

 _Everyone was baffled as to what that was and where it was going as the object quickly climbed back into the sky and headed away from the Academy. Saito however knew exactly what it was. However unlikely, he knew. And he paled at the repercussions of what had just happened._

 _Tiffania's presumed familiar had been on board an airplane._

 _And she'd summoned the whole damn thing to Halkeginia._

* * *

 _Tristain Academy, Tristain, Halkeginia_

Everyone watched as the metal dragon accelerated back into the sky.

Saito was horrified at the implications of what had just happened. Tiffania had summoned not one, but potentially hundreds of people from Earth. Any one of them could be her familiar.

He leapt into action, knowing he had little time before the plane was out of reach.

"What was that?" asked Colbert.

Saito knew he had no time to play 20 questions.

"We need to get to the runway, now! I'll explain on the way" he practically shouted. Glancing at some of the students that had gathered he spoke.

"You two! Take your professor to the hospital wing! Now!"

Seeing them move to take Tiffa to the healers, Saito ran towards the gates, the others quick to follow. Saito could hear Colbert's questions but he knew he didn't have time to explain in detail.

"Long story short, that's an airliner" he began as they ran. Struggling to explain in a way Colbert and the others would understand, he continued. "It's an airborne transport from my world that carries people. We need to catch up to it. And we need to land it here. If we don't, it'll run out of fuel and crash, killing everyone on board."

As they ran around the outside of the walls, Saito formulated a plan. He had to get up there and fast before the plane was out of sight. That was the easy part.

The hard part would be communicating with and explaining the situation to the pilots and convincing them to trust him. Thinking, he suddenly had a brainstorm. _If I could get Louise INSIDE the plane, she could show them magic is for real. I could use the Familiar link to show her where to go… But would that even work in this case?_

As they rounded the walls, the airstrip came into view. The _Ostland_ , impressive as ever was tucked into its hangar. Next to it, in a smaller hangar was the F-2 fighter jet he'd "borrowed" from the JASDF.

"Ok, I have a plan" he spoke as he climbed into the F-2's cockpit. ""Headmaster, I need you to trust me on this. We need every earth mage you can find to extend the runway out as far as you can. That airliner will need a long flat area to land. If they come in too fast, use your air spells to slow it down".

"Er Saito, I…"

"Headmaster. I promise I'll explain everything later". Turning to Louise, "Louise, I need you to come with me. I'll explain in the air".

"Very well Saito. But we must discuss this later" replied Colbert.

Louise jumped into the cockpit with Saito as he finished spooling up the fighter. The whine of the jet's engines began to increase in volume.

"The radio's in the hangar, Colbert! Use it like I taught you to communicate with me! Remember, don't touch anything but the microphone switch!" he shouted over the engines.

Motioning for everyone to step back, Saito closed the canopy. Once he and Louise were secure, he began taxiing the plane down to the end of the runway. Turning it around, he slammed the throttle full and punched the afterburners.

The jet roared down the dirt runway. It rocketed into the sky and Saito immediately turned it towards the southwest, tracking the plane on radar.

"Headmaster, can you hear me?

" _Um, yes I can hear you Saito"_ came the hesitant reply from the radio.

"Alright… So here's the plan…"

* * *

 _Somewhere over Tristain_

Captain Frank Rollins was, to put it in layman's terms, _freaking the fuck out_.

His First Officer, Seth Lapidus, wasn't doing much better.

They'd gone from a routine trans-Pacific red-eye to being bounced around in free-fall before appearing in a flash of light over a sunlit countryside.

Imagine their shock when, upon looking up at the sky to try getting his bearings, he'd noticed not one, but _two_ moons.

Nothing in his 23 years of flying could have ever prepared him for this.

 _Alright Frank, calm down_ he told himself. _Take a step back and assess the situation_.

 _We almost fucking crashed. We don't know where we are. We have no navigation instruments. No radio contact._

 _On the plus side:_

 _We have enough fuel for 10 hours. We're over land, which means there should be somewhere flat we could set down, God forbid._

 _There's buildings down there, which means people and civilization._

 _Priorities:_

 _Try to establish radio contact and get a bead on just where "here" is._

 _Find a spot to land. Unless this is a dream or a REALLY bad acid trip, we're obviously not in Kansas anymore._

That last thought had his eyes wandering outside the windshield to where the _two_ moons hovered mockingly overhead.

* * *

 _In the Business Class Cabin_

Victor was getting frustrated by now. And he wasn't the only one. The other passengers were getting restless. The pilots at the front of the 787 hadn't said a peep since they'd somehow gone from the middle of the night to sunny skies and broad daylight.

Staring out the window, they'd passed over a few villages and farmland but no obvious signs of civilization. Just dirt roads and fields.

Leaning back in his seat, he checked his phone on the off chance there was a signal. _No service_ he saw. He thought about hitting the call button and asking the flight attendants but he could see they were just as puzzled themselves.

A murmur began to rise from behind him. Looking back, he saw passengers whispering and murmuring as they looked out the window.

Turning to his own window, he looked around. And then he saw it. A blue fighter jet was coming up behind the airliner.

The fighter slowed as it entered formation alongside the airliner. Victor could see there were two people on board.

"Jesus Christ" came a voice seated next to him.

His Australian seatmate, who for most of the flight had been quiet was now moving to stand up. Victor hadn't paid him too much attention during the flight, but the guy obviously seemed distressed by all this. _Not that I can't blame him_ he thought, standing up to let him pass.

His peripheral vision was drawn suddenly to a light that had suddenly appeared in the aisle.

 _What in the hell?_

The other passengers had noticed too and were becoming increasingly panicked. His neighbor on the other hand seemed focused on the thing.

It looked like an oval of light… The light lasted for a second before it shifted into what looked like a portal.

The passengers' confusion turned to shock and amazement as from out of the portal crawled a well-dressed young woman. Rolling upon exiting the portal, it closed behind her. She took in her surroundings, a look of wonder and amazement in her eyes. She carried with her a stick in one hand and a note in the other.

Victor was at a loss for words. This was beyond human comprehension. The other passengers said nothing and just stared at what happened.

"Lady Valliere. You've no idea how much of a relief it is to see you".

Almost the entire business class cabin's heads snapped to the man who had spoken: Victor's Australian seatmate.

The now identified Lady Valliere had a look of shock and confusion on her face as well.

"You don't know me but I know you and your husband" continued the Australian. "My name is Special Agent James Hansen. I'm with SWORD"

* * *

Louise was feeling overwhelmed. Saito's plan had been for her to portal _on board_ the airliner and deliver a message to the "pilots". Her mental link to Saito active, she could see where she was meant to go. It had been tricky casting inside the cramped cockpit of the jet fighter but the plan had worked and she'd crawled through the portal.

However, her initial wonder at seeing the inside of such an incredible machine was dulled into shock by what had just happened.

The man had identified himself as an agent of SWORD. _Those are the people Saito talks to on Earth_ she remembered.

 _Holy crap! Ask him to help you Louise!_

Saito's voice echoed within her mind, snapping her out of her daze.

"You might be able to help me then. I need to give this to the… "pilots?"" she explained, struggling with the foreign word and holding up Saito's note.

"The pilots? They're up front. I can take you there" replied the agent.

"Hey! Buddy! You mind telling us all just what the hell is going on?" someone asked. One of the other passengers was standing up, having been the source of the question.

 _Shit… There's no time for this…_ came Saito's voice as he saw everything through the mental link.

"Sir, I know we've been through quite a bit. I'll explain everything in a second but rest assured, this woman is here to help us" replied the agent

"We've been through hell is what we've been through. We deserve some answers!"

A woman in uniform came in from the curtained-off front of the airplane.

"Everyone, I need you all to remain calm and return to your seats… now" she ordered.

"No, you listen here" replied the irate man, now turning on the woman. "We've been through God knows what, and you people haven't said a peep. What the fuck is going on here?"

The agent stepped up to the man, holding some sort of badge.

"Sir, I'm James Hansen, with the Australian Intelligence Service. Please return to your seat or I will have to restrain you" he said seriously.

The irate passenger seemed to debate his options before sitting down gruffly.

"Sir, I need you to sit down as well" continued the woman in uniform. "We're going to be turning, so I need you to return to your seat".

"Young miss, I can assure you, it's in your best interest to hear what I and this young lady", he said gesturing to Louise, "have to say. But we need to include the pilots in this conversation. This involves them as well" he finished, still holding his badge.

The young flight attendant hesitated for a moment, racking her brain trying to figure out where the pink-haired young woman had come from, before nodding.

"Follow me".

* * *

 _Back in the Flight Deck_

The two clueless pilots flying the airliner could only stare at the mysterious fighter jet that had pulled up alongside them. They'd been flying in a holding pattern high above the only thing they could recognize: the mysterious castle they'd left behind upon their mysterious appearance.

"That's a Japanese fighter, that is" said Captain Rollins. "F-2 from the looks of it".

Their thoughts were interrupted by the call button sounding, meaning the flight attendants were trying to page them.

Picking up the receiver, Rollins answered.

"Yeah?"

" _Captain, the passengers are getting anxious. Also, there's an Australian Intelligence Officer here wanting to speak to you. He says he has information on what's happened"_

Rollins digested this information for a moment.

"Alright, let him in".

The door opened to reveal the agent accompanied by a pink-haired young woman.

"Alright, Sophie said you wanted to tell me what exactly's going on?" he asked the agent.

"Well… It's a bit complicated and it'll be hard to believe, which is why I brought my friend Louise here"

* * *

Saito was growing increasingly nervous. His plan relied on Louise successfully convincing the pilots of the situation and tuning their radio to his frequency.

The fact that there was a SWORD agent on board was an unexpected but lucky break.

Now all Saito could do was wait as the airliner slowly circled over the Academy.

* * *

Of all the things the agent had said, the one Rollins had no trouble believing was that it would be hard to believe.

 _Magic… Real magic…_ he thought.

Of course, any doubts had been dispelled when Agent Hansen had pulled out a coin and the now identified Lady Valliere changed it into a miniature statue.

 _Still… Another world… How the hell are we supposed to get back anyway?_

Banishing his thoughts, he turned to the more immediate matter.

Lady Valliere had provided him with a note, containing a radio frequency apparently linked to the fighter jet tailing the airliner. She was now staring in awe at the flight deck, amazed at all the fascinating technology displayed.

Quickly turning the radio frequency, he keyed the mike.

"Saito Hiraga, can you hear me?"

The response was almost immediate.

 ** _"Yes! I can hear you! Good job Louise! I knew you could do it!"_**

Louise merely smiled. "I learned from the best, Saito"

"Alright Hiraga. Your wife's filled me in. So now the question is, where the hell can we land this plane?"

 ** _"The Academy you're circling has a dirt runway that's being lengthened for you. Will that work?"_**

The captain grimaced. Dirt was not ideal to land on for a plane designed to land on clean, asphalt runways. His engines were designed to handle it but he wasn't sure about his tires. Unfortunately for him, however, this was likely the only runway _in the world._

"It's not ideal but it'll have to do" he replied. Eyeing the fuel status, he saw they still had about 10 hours of fuel remaining. On the one hand, he'd prefer to dump as much as he could afford to lighten the plane. On the other, based on his conversation with Valliere and Hansen, there a possibility they'd have to get the plane back in the air to return to Earth. _If we can return that is…_

 _Fuck it, we can handle it. We need all the fuel we can keep_.

* * *

Victor was speechless. He wasn't alone. Most of the cabin whispered amongst each other over what they'd just heard. Moments before, the captain and Agent Hansen had finally come over the PA system and informed them of their… situation.

 _Another world… Well, it's not that hard to believe considering…_ he thought glancing out at the two moons hovering overhead.

They were circling over their landing spot, a dirt airstrip next to the castle they'd passed before.

 _And now we're going to land on a dirt runway on a passenger plane half-loaded with jet fuel._

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. Ever since his parents' death in a plane crash, he'd been a bit more apprehensive of flying.

The fighter jet that had shadowed them was gone now. He could see it down below making its landing first.

Trying to distract himself he turned to his seatmate, the now identified Agent Hansen.

"So you knew about all this?" he asked him.

Hansen looked at him and ran his hand through his hair.

"Well technically that information's classified but since the cat's out of the bag, yeah we knew about this world. We've taken to calling it Avalon. We've known about it for a while. Can't really discuss anything more specific" replied Hansen. "We'll probably all get debriefed by my people when we make it back to Earth".

Victor's mind churned with that prospect.

"So we'll make it back then?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm betting we will, mate".

* * *

Saito landed first, taxing the plane back towards the shed.

Louise was already waiting for him, having portaled back down to the ground. She was sitting down resting after blowing through her magic reserves casting two World Doors in a row

Powering the jet down, Saito hopped off to find Colbert waiting for him next to Louise.

"I've lengthened the runway quite a bit. Will it be enough?" he asked Saito.

"It should. I had plenty of room coming in" replied Saito. "Now, I imagine you want some answers?"

"If you would, please".

"That thing up there is called an airliner. Remember what I told you, about a larger version of this fighter jet that carries hundreds of passengers? They're pretty common in my world. The larger ones like this one can fly halfway around the world in less than a day without stopping. But they need large runways to take off and land".

"Amazing! I'm anxious to see it up close" said Colbert excitedly.

"You'll get your chance, Headmaster" replied Saito. Reaching for the radio, he tuned the plane's frequency.

"Alright Captain. Runway's set. You're cleared to land. Good luck"

* * *

Victor stared out of the window. They were descending. _Finally_ he thought. _I want off this damn thing._

(chime)

 _"Ladies and gentlemen. We are beginning our descent. Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for rough landing. Prepare to assume brace positions."_

As the flight attendants ordered everyone to stow their tray tables and pull their seats up, passengers braced themselves for the worst. They'd already been through hell and now it seemed they would be tested once more. The flight attendants briefed everyone on the brace positions as the plane descended.

Frank and Seth began settling into their landing procedures as they lined up with the runway. Thanks to the extra fuel load, it would be a fast and hard landing.

"Flaps 1" ordered Frank as he maneuvered the plane into the glideslope.

"Flaps 1" replied Seth. The flaps and slats on the wings began to extend and deploy in order to facilitate maneuvering at lower speeds.

As the plane descended through 3,000 feet, the approach became the only normal part of the flight's past 2 hours as the two pilots settled into a routine they'd done hundreds of times before.

"Gear down" ordered Frank.

"Gear down 3 green" called Seth, noting that all three landing gear bays were deployed.

"Flaps 2" uttered the pilot.

"Flaps 2" came the automatic response and appropriate action from the co-pilot.

The plane slowed as it descended down towards the runway.

"Flaps full"

"Flaps full. Ok"

The flaps on the wing were now fully deployed, which would allow the plane to easily glide onto the airstrip.

"Landing checklist, all green"

Taking a moment to alert the flight attendants, Frank spoke.

"Flight attendants. Prepare brace positions".

Turning his attention back to the approach, he watched as the altimeter slowly clicked downwards. 1,500. Then 1,000

Seth began reading out the altitude to help Frank focus on the runway.

"One-thousand"

Practicing movements he'd done hundreds of times before, Frank kept the plane aligned with the make-shift runway.

Focusing on the task at hand he continued the approach.

"Five-hundred"

" _Too low. Terrain_ " yelled the GPWS.

His heart rate picked up a bit.

"Four-hundred"

" _Too low. Terrain"_

Adrenaline coursed through his veins.

 _"Too low. Terrain. Pull up"_

"Three-hundred"

His brow was sweaty. The altitude alarm sounded.

"Two-hundred".

" _Too low. Terrain"_

Quickly grabbing the mike for the cabin he spoke.

"Brace Brace Brace"

* * *

In the cabin, the moment those words came over the PA, the heads of all the passengers disappeared into their seats.

Victor sat with his hands on the seat in front of his, head down, but looking outside with his peripherals. They were close now.

In the background, the flight attendants continued shouting for all passengers to brace.

"Get your heads down! Brace, brace brace"

* * *

 _"Too low. Terrain. Pull up."_

Frank looked at Seth for a moment, their eyes locked and they both knew. It was now or never.

"One-hundred"

Easing back on the yoke, he pitched the plane up to make it as smooth a landing as possible. The 787 wasn't meant to land on dirt runways but it was too late for that now.

 _"Too low. Terrain. Pull up"_

"Fifty"

"Forty"

"Thirty"

One slight pull backwards on the yoke to ease the plane onto the field.

"Twenty"

"Ten"

* * *

 **You probably hate me for the cliffhanger. You should have seen it coming though.**

 **You might be asking why didn't Louise World Door everyone off the plane before? The answer is she did not have the willpower to keep the portal open for the time needed to evacuate 100+ people off a plane. Saito had her leave because he knows the risks involved in an emergency landing. (It's not the strongest argument and we could all spend hours poking holes in it but I'd rather keep writing and get on with the story)**

 **I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.**


	5. And Don't Call Me Shirley

**NEW CHARACTERS ADDED TO CHARACTER SHEET ON PROFILE**

 **A little holiday weekend present for you all. Seeing as I'm almost done with Chapter 6, I thought I'd release Chapter 5 early. I can't believe we're already at the 20,000+ word mark. By comparison, I hit this mark late in my first attempt at this story, which some of you have asked me to keep up.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Reishin Amara: XD**

 **Appbeza: It's actually only 122 people but yeah, you'll see what I come up with. Thanks for the continued reviews**

 **Volxsis1755: Right on, right on dude. Thanks.**

 **Demosthenes2211: Yeah, my last time around was pretty shoddy and poorly planned out. I already have a pretty set idea of where the story will go**

 **Bagration: Hmmm, let's just say the summoning will eventually be the least of Earth's problems**

 **Ridli Scott: I'm glad you like this way better. I don't know but I always had trouble writing the last one. This one has been much easier to write.**

 **New Universe Returns: Will do, thanks. And no problem.**

 **Osprey: I had trouble writing everyone's reactions so I just scrapped that part. Sorry. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of moments like what you're looking for down the line.**

* * *

 _Tristain Academy, Tristain_

 _Airfield_

Saito and the others watched the plane touch down hard at the far end of the dirt runway. It bounced once then settled on its wheels as it sped down the runway, kicking up massive clouds of dirt.

* * *

The landing was rough. The cockpit clattered as the plane touched down on the dirt airstrip.

"Speed brakes. Full reverse thrust!" ordered Frank.

Frank pulled the spoilers up as Seth pulled the throttles back to full reverse. Both were gingerly stepping on the brakes as the plane rumbled down the makeshift airstrip. Too much pressure and the tires would dig into the dirt, possibly damaging them and ripping the landing gear off; too little and they'd speed off the end of the runway.

* * *

Victor's teeth were clattering. The overhead bins rattled above. He saw the spoilers immediately deploy and heard the reversers engaging just as quickly.

A large cloud of dust followed the plane as it screeched down the dirt runway.

* * *

The group watched as the plane struggled to slow down, the extra weight of the fuel making it harder.

They could hear the brakes groaning as they struggled to slow the massive airliner.

With the reversers deployed, the plane's engines were kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

As the plane neared the halfway mark, Saito noticed it was finally starting to slow.

* * *

Watching the airspeed drop, Frank held his breath.

 _80…70…60…50…40…30…_

"Alrgiht we're good. Stow reversers. Speed brakes down" he ordered.

* * *

Victor felt the plane slow down to normal taxi speed. The spoilers went down and the whine of the reversers stopped as the engines throttled back up to normal taxi speed.

Someone started clapping and immediately the entire cabin was roaring with applause, including Victor.

* * *

In the cockpit, the two pilots heard the applause and smiled.

Turning the plane around, they taxied back to where the fighter had parked. There was a small group of people waiting for them.

Looking in front, the saw a man waving at them to shut off their engines as they taxied towards the group.

Grabbing the mike for the PA, Frank spoke.

"Passengers remain seated. Flight attendants await further instructions".

"Head back to 1L and see if they can't find some sort of ladder. I'd rather not deploy the slides" he said turning to Seth, who promptly complied. Frank remained in the flight deck completing the shutdown checklist.

Stepping back towards the passenger cabin, Senior First Officer Seth Lapidus was suddenly beset by thunderous applause as everyone who saw him immediately started clapping.

Smiling he addressed the passengers.

"We're going to see if we can get you all off without having to use the slides. Please remain comfortably seated and we'll let you know as soon as we have an update".

Moving back towards the 1L door, Seth and a flight attendant disarmed the evacuation slide and opened the door.

* * *

Saito, Louise, and Colbert watched as the front left door of the plane opened.

Taking it as his cue, Saito approached the now quieter airliner, Colbert following him. Saito grinned as he noticed Colbert's awestruck expression. _Like a kid in a candy shop_ he thought.

"You must be Mr. Hiraga" came a voice. Looking up, Saito saw one of the pilots poking his head out of the door. "Name's Seth Lapidus, I'm the First Officer. Thanks for the assistance up there. There any chance you blokes have a ladder or a stair we can use to deplane the passengers? I'd rather not use the evacuation slides".

Saito merely turned to Colbert.

"Hmm, hey Headmaster, think you could create a stairway up to the door?"

"That would be well within my capabilities" smiled Colbert. "This is truly an amazing machine. You must allow me to examine it!"

Waving his staff, a pile of earth rose up to meet the open door, forming a perfect stairway.

Seth merely stared, open-mouthed at this very obvious display of magic.

"Christ, it's the real deal. You've got one hell of a trick there mate! Could you do the other doors?"

"Certainly!"

* * *

Turning back into the plane, Seth grabbed the PA and addressed the cabin.

"Flight attendants, crosscheck and prepare all doors for disembarkation. We'll be using stairs. Again, all doors."

Throughout the plane, flight attendants manned their closest doors, most stunned as an earth stairway rose up to meet each one.

Popping back into the Flight Deck, Seth informed the captain.

"Captain, that magic stuff is right useful. There's stairs coming up at all the doors now".

Frank by now had completed his shutdown checklist. Nodding, he grabbed the PA and addressed the passengers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be deplaning by stairs from all doors. You may deplane from the nearest cabin door to your seat. Please leave all personal belongings behind for now. You'll be able to get them later."

* * *

Saito, Louise, and Colbert, as well as the few curious students that had followed them watched as people began to stream out of the plane and down the stairs at a brisk pace. Some ran down the stairs. A few knelt and kissed the ground.

 _I can't imagine what they've been through_ thought Saito.

More and more people began streaming out of the 787's eight doors, shocking Louise and Colbert. They clearly had not expected this many people to be on board.

Despite the plane being half-full, it still carried 114 passengers plus eight crew.

Finally the stream of people began to slow. The flight attendants emerged before the last two people on board deplaned: Captain Rollins and First Officer Lapidus.

Seeing the pilots deplane, Saito walked over to them.

* * *

Frank and Seth were the last ones to leave the plane.

As they stepped off the stairs, they saw a young Japanese man dressed similarly to the other people on the ground walking over towards them.

"You guys did a hell of a job landing that plane. I'm Saito Hiraga. I flew the jet fighter" he said introducing himself. Shaking his hand, the two pilots introduced themselves.

"Frank Rollins, Senior Captain"

"Seth Lapidus, Senior First Officer"

"I imagine you guys have some questions" asked Saito.

"Actually, Agent Hansen over there filled us in on almost everything" replied Frank. "But it's still hard to believe".

"I know it sounds ridiculous but believe me. I came here from Japan four years ago and my reaction was the same" said Saito. "We're currently in Tristain, a small country in the northwest of the continent of Halkeginia. The world we're on is separate but parallel to Earth".

"The weird part is where magic is concerned" finished Saito.

"Yeah, we already saw some… Truly incredible" said Seth, finally speaking.

Saito chuckled. "You haven't seen anything yet. Derf, you awake, bro?"

"Right here partner" came a voice seemingly out of nowhere.

The pilots looked around for the source of the voice.

Saito turned around and Derflinger popped out of his sheathe.

"The name's Derflinger. Nice to meet you, Earth humans" he said casually.

The two pilots just stared wide-eyed.

Seth pointed in disbelief.

"That's a talking sword…"

"Honestly, EVERY time I introduce myself, it's always the same reaction: 'Did that sword just talk? Oh my, is that a talking sword? How did that sword speak?' It gets old real fast, ya know?" continued the talking sword.

Frank couldn't help but chuckle at this.

"Sword with an attitude, looks like" he said. His face turning serious, Frank continued.

"I just have one question. Can we get back to Earth? And how?"

Saito ran his hand through his hair.

"We should talk in private. Louise!" he said, calling over his wife.

"Hang on mate" said Frank. Calling over the plane's Relief Captain, he gave her some instructions before rejoining the group.

Moving towards a secluded area of the wooden shed next to the runway, Saito began.

"So as you've probably seen, my wife can create portals between two places. Normally, she has no trouble making ones to Earth. Hell we took our honeymoon there".

"I'm sensing a 'but' here…" quipped Seth.

"We haven't been able to open a stable connection to Earth recently. At the moment, someone through might mean losing a limb… Or worse".

At this, the two pilots' expressions flattened, their eyes now downcast.

"But…"

The pilots' heads snapped up.

"We could try sending a bunch of messages through. At least some of them will have to make it."

The pilots still had looks of worry.

"What about getting back home?" asked Frank.

"There is another way to get back. A little unorthodox, but flying straight into a solar eclipse opens the portal to Earth. Don't ask me how. Magic".

Both pilots started smiling.

"That's perfect! When's the next one?"

"Ah…. I don't know" said Saito sheepishly. "But I'm sure we can find that out".

Seth had a confused look on his face.

"I just realized. How DID we end up here in the first place?" he asked.

Saito and Louise froze, both thinking the same thing. _How in the hell am I supposed to explain this? Oh, we just tried to summon a person from Earth and accidentally summoned an airliner. Sure, they'll take that real well._

Luckily for him, someone beat him to it.

"We don't have a name for them so we just call them Anomalies" came a familiar voice.

Looking towards the open entrance of the shed, all four saw the face of Agent Hansen walking up towards them.

As he approached the group, he winked at Saito, who noticed it immediately. _Play along._

"Anomalies?" asked Seth.

"Yeah, they've been popping up all over Earth for the past few decades" explained Hansen, putting his hand on Saito's shoulder. "They've been increasing in frequency over the last ten years. Disappearances, anomalous energy readings, out of place lightning storms, and other odd occurrences. We knew they had something to do with this world, which is why we had Mr. Hiraga here investigating on our behalf".

Taking the cue, Saito continued.

"Uh yeah! We haven't found much on what causes them thought, but yeah, this definitely seems to be another Anomaly" he said nervously. He wasn't sure if Hansen knew they'd actually been summoned but he didn't want to risk the SWORD agent's ire.

If the pilots were skeptical, they didn't show it.

"How come no one on Earth's ever heard of these Anomalies?" asked Frank.

"Because we're VERY good at our jobs, Captain" replied Hansen.

"Wait, who's we?" interrupted Seth.

"I'm afraid that's all I can say for the moment. The subject is rather confidential. Needless to say, my people will be speaking with everyone here once we return to Earth".

The pilots' faces dropped to a frustrated stare. Before they had a chance to complain, Hansen continued.

"Don't worry, mates. I'll help you two explain what happened to the passengers, and answer any questions if I can" finished Hansen.

"Mr. Hiraga" he said turning to Saito. "I'd like to speak with you later tonight once you get a chance. There are some things we need to discuss."

Hansen leaned in so only Saito could hear him.

"Before you send any messages" he said, walking off before Saito could respond.

* * *

The revelation to the passengers of the current situation went off with few hitches. Even after casting a translation spell that allowed everyone to communicate regardless of language, one irate passenger had claimed the whole thing was just a conspiracy and had demanded they reboard and take off immediately. A second show of magic in the form of a levitation spell by Louise had shut him up and brought everyone back to the fact that they were no longer on Earth and that magic was not the imaginary thing of fairy tales that they'd believed for so long.

Now the question was one of logistics. Saito and Louise had rejoined the crew to discuss the issue.

The flight crew's main concern was housing and food for the 122 new arrivals. They'd offered to house them in the airliner itself but the fuel consumption during that time running the climate controls meant that they could only do it for a few days if they were to have enough fuel remaining to return to Earth.

"We would be more than happy to open up the Towers of Water and Void to your people" Colbert had supplied, walking up to the group of passengers. He spoke in his limited Albionese, which was a variant of what the Terrans knew as English.. "This year's class size was small enough that only three of the five residence towers are in use".

"That could work" replied Frank. "The plane was only half full so there's only 122 of us". Holding out his hand, he introduced himself. "Frank Rollins, Senior Captain".

"Professor Jean Colbert, Headmaster of Tristain Academy of Magic" replied Colbert, taking the Captain's hand. Seth repeated his action, introducing himself. "Thank you for your help" he said.

"Not at all. I'm more than glad to help. You truly have an amazing machine. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to examine it sometime. I have been trying to replicate the process of combustion and Saito here explained that is how your machine is powered".

"Well, we'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the plane, sometime. But as for our previous conversation, that solves the housing problem. What about food? We don't know how long we'll be here and we hate to impose but…"

"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement Captain. The Queen is an old friend and I wager she would be more than happy to accommodate" said Colbert.

"I'm certain my father would be happy to assist for some time as well" added Louise.

Saito gulped. His relationship with Duke Valliere had improved significantly since the Duke had caught him and Louise getting frisky on the boat at their estate but the man still commanded enormous respect. Almost as much as Louise's mother. Though _she_ was anotherstory.

"If you'll excuse me then captain, I must make preparations. The staff will come get your people once their accommodations are ready" said Colbert, bowing his head as he left.

Frank gave a simple nod then turned to the couple.

"Seth and I are going to see if we can't unload the plane and reunite the passengers with their belongings. I can't tell ya how much we appreciate all your help" he said.

"Captain, please, it's the least we could do" replied Saito.

* * *

 _Tristain Academy Hospital Wing_

 _A Few Hours Later_

Straining to open her eyes, Tiffania awoke with the mother of all headaches.

 _This is as bad as that time Louise and I drank that bottle of sake Saito brought back_ she thought.

Struggling to sit up, she absorbed her surroundings.

She was in the Academy's Hospital Wing.

 _They must have brought me here after… Oh dear, what happened after I…_

She thought back to what she could remember.

She'd summoned… something… right before she fainted from exhaustion.

 _What was that thing?_ she wondered.

"Ah, you're awake!" said the healer, walking over to Tiffania's bed. "You were brought in with a rather nasty case of magical exhaustion, dear".

Tiffa rubbed her head, trying to stem her pulsing headache, as she lay back down.

"How long was I out?"

"Oh, only a few hours" replied the healer nonchalantly.

"WHAT?" yelled Tiffania, sitting back up and immediately regretting it as her head pulsed once more. "Ugh… My head…"

"Relax dearie… Quite a bit's happened since you were brought in here".

"What do you mean?"

The nurse had been about to answer when none other than Saito and Louise opened the door.

"Tiffa! You're awake!" he said walking over to her bed.

"How do you feel? You gave us a bit of a scare back there" added Louise.

"I've been better" replied Tiffa, trying to smile. "I feel like I drank too much".

"We had some students bring you in here after you collapsed" said Saito.

"Wait… What happened? After I fainted? The nurse said that…"

"It's a bit complicated" interrupted Saito, scratching his head. "You see, uh…"

Saito struggled to find the words.

"Saito, I saw something come through the flash. What did I summon?" asked Tiffa seriously.

"An airliner. An aerial passenger transport from my world based on the same principles as the jet fighter" he explained. "I think your familiar was onboard and the airliner was pulled through the summoning portal as a result".

Tiffania digested this information for a moment.

"How many people does this transport carry?" she asked him.

Saito hesitated, a fact that did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"There were over 100 people on board" he said simply.

Tiffa was at a loss for words.

 _100 people… I pulled 100 people from their home? Oh spirits…_

"What have I done?"

"Tiffa, it's not your fault… It's just an unfortunate coincidence. These airliners travel almost as fast as sound itself… If someone's familiar was on board, it makes sense the summoning spell would have trouble summoning just them" explained Saito.

Tiffania looked up, tears in her eyes.

"I should have stopped the spell sooner. As soon as you didn't come through the portal, I wanted to end it. But I couldn't…"

"Hey…" said Saito moving to hug Tiffania. "Hey, come here…".

Louise placed her hand on Tiffa's shoulder. "There was no way of knowing what would happen".

"Everything will work out. Trust me" finished Saito.

Tiffa pulled away from the hug and smiled.

"Thanks… I needed that".

* * *

 **Aaaaaaand that's a wrap for this chapter. Next chapter coming soon.  
**

 **I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.**


	6. I'm Sorry, You Seem Familiar

**Wow! Chapter 6 already? Even I'm surprised. Consider it a Memorial Day surprise. At this point, I'm caught up with what I already had written. From here on, I'll be writing new material (and taking some from the old story). So the updates may come a bit farther in between.  
**

 **NEW CHARACTERS ADDED TO CHARACTER SHEET ON PROFILE! Go see what Tiffania looks like after two years.  
**

 **Though I'm always grateful to have my loyal readers reviewing after each chapter, I would like to get some input from my quieter readers. PLEASE take the time and review! I might have missed something. And I always answer reviews... ALWAYS.  
**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Ridli Scott: Bruh, of all the things to comment on… THAT'S what you chose? XD Nah but I might throw it in as an omake**

 **kevinkocher1: I do not know who this Nagi is but he sounds stupid (don't answer, I actually do)**

 **Ospery: Ohhh believe me friend. I have no plans to abandon this story**

 **Appbeza: Slow down dude, the story just started… At this point, Saito has to go with the simplest explanation for two reasons: 1, the humans from Earth don't know anything about magic and 2, he doesn't know what causes the eclipse portals. Remember, they need access to the Romalian Archives to figure it out, which means they need a familiar, which is how they ended up in this situation in the first place.**

 **New Universe Returns: Grazie  
**

 **And NOW... ON WITH THE SHOW.**

 **I own as much as Jon Snow knows: nothing**

* * *

 _Evening, SWORD Headquarters_

 _Brussels_

Night had already fallen on the city of Brussels. Yet SWORD headquarters was alive as ever as everyone piled into the briefing room. The monitors to the sides showed the faces of the regional directors, scattered throughout the world.

Director Reynolds stepped up to the front of the room as he began.

"I want to thank you all for agreeing to stay here this late. I'm not a fan of overtime either but the situation demands it. Let's get started".

Reynolds turned on the projector and a map of the Pacific Ocean appeared on the screen.

"As you no doubt have heard on the news, Hawaii Air Traffic Control lost contact with Oceanic Airways Flight 29 earlier today. A 787 carrying 114 passengers and 8 crew from Los Angeles to Sydney, all signals flat lined at 2348 Hours Local Time, 0948 Zulu. No distress signals and no radio calls beforehand were reported. The aircraft did not change altitude prior to disappearing and preliminary data from ACARS indicates all signals from the aircraft ceased simultaneously".

"At the same time, our monitoring systems recorded a massive anomaly in the vicinity of the last known location of Oceanic 29. A Class 2 Breach".

The staff listening to the briefing began murmuring softly at this.

"Some of you seem to realize where I'm going with this" continued Reynolds. "We have reason to believe Oceanic 29 may have encountered the breach we detected."

The murmuring stopped and the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Everyone in SWORD knew that encountering a breach was incredibly dangerous. At high speeds, it was essentially a death sentence for any aircraft. For some in SWORD, that reality was all too real.

Just a year prior, an AeroFrance 777 had encountered an Anomaly that had developed into a breach. As the plane flew though it, the forces encountered had torn the plane apart. More than 200 people had died and only a few intact pieces of debris were ever recovered.

Officially, the incident was labeled a mechanical failure. However, many in SWORD remembered the despair they'd felt during the investigation and subsequent cover up.

"I know some of you might be thinking this is a repeat of AeroFrance 258. Rest assured that what evidence we do have seems to indicate the plane entered the breach intact"

The murmuring picked up again at this news.

"Our preliminary searches… Quiet please" he continued. "Our preliminary search has turned up no debris, no oil slicks, nothing to indicate the aircraft broke apart as it entered the breach. However, as you know, Anomalies are unpredictable. We do not have confirmation the plane made it through to Avalon. Or if it made it through intact."

"Therefore, our current goal is to locate the aircraft in Avalon. Intact, or otherwise… Field Coordinators, follow the packets we sent you and coordinate your field teams to scatter TDO (Tran-Dimensional Observation) drones and search the ocean near the breach on both sides. The plane was flying westward so they might have managed to land near Rub-Al-Khali. Pay attention to every detail. Even a whisper might tell us where the plane went."

"Is everyone clear on their assignments?" finished Reynolds.

With no questions being asked, he nodded.

"Let's get to it then. Dismissed"

* * *

 _Late Afternoon/Early Evening, Tristain Academy of Magic_

Tiffania had finally recovered enough to get out of bed. She, Louise, and Saito had moved to Colbert's office to discuss the myriad of issues regarding the current situation. Outside, the sun was beginning to set.

"Dinner is being prepared for our guests. They will be shown to their chambers afterwards. It'll be a bit of a tight fit involving moving some of the staff around but we should have enough room for everyone" explained Colbert after sitting down.

"Food should be a non-issue once the necessary requisitions are put in to the Palace. Although I might take you up on your offer of some supplies from your father to ease the burden on the Crown, Lady Valliere".

"As I said, he'd be more than happy to help once he learns of the situation" replied Louise.

"Now then, there's the matter of Professor Westwood's Familiar" continued Colbert.

"Is now really the time to be dealing with this, Headmaster? I think we have bigger problems than finding a lone Familiar" interrupted Louise.

"I'm afraid, Lady Valliere, that this matter is quite important and a bit time sensitive. If you wish to be able to access the Romalian Archives when you're summoned to Romalia in a month's time, you'll need that Familiar".

"I think, Headmaster, what Louise is saying is that we should deal with this plane situation first before we focus on the Familiar" added Tiffania.

Colbert's face remained unmoved.

"I'm sorry Miss Westwood, but I really must insist on finding and sealing the Familiar as quickly as possible" he said.

Saito's eyes narrowed. The past two years of dealing with not only combat, but Halkeginian politics had lent him a sort of second sense when somebody was not being entirely truthful.

 _He's hiding something…_ he thought. _But why?_

"Headmaster is there a reason why this HAS to be done now? I mean, hell if we deal with this now, we'd need to find a way to identify the Familiar and then explain to them the situation. I doubt it's going to be that easy…"

Saito's sentence went unfinished as the door to the office opened and Agent Hansen stepped in.

"Ah, I can come back later. I need to speak to you two alone" he said pointing to Saito and Louise.

"Actually, Agent Hansen. There's an issue that you might be able to help us with" said Colbert quickly.

Puzzled, Hansen stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Alright. Shoot" he said.

"Lord Hiraga, you might be able to better explain the situation to someone unfamiliar with magic" said Colbert looking at Saito, with an embarrassed grin on his face.

Saito shot back at Colbert with a glare. _Really? You're making ME do this?_ he said mentally.

Looking back at Hansen, Saito gulped as he tried to find a way to explain the situation to Hansen so that he'd help them.

"You mentioned that the plane was probably brought here by an Anomaly" he began hesitantly. "That's not… entirely accurate".

Hansen's eyes narrowed.

* * *

 _Brussells_

Reynolds sat down at his desk after the briefing. This whole situation was one he'd had no desire to repeat, especially after the AeroFrance incident.

His phone suddenly went off and interrupted his musing.

" _Sir, I have the Australian SWORD Director on the line for you"_

"Put her through" he said, sighing.

His computer screen blanked for a second, then on it appeared the face of Australian Division Chief Meyers.

" _ **Director. I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time"**_

"Now's as good a time as any Meyers. What do you have for me?"

" _ **We've combed over the passenger manifest and found something interesting."**_

Reynolds leaned forward in his chair.

" _ **One of our agents was on board the plane."**_

Reynold's eyebrows shot up. This was definitely a lucky break. An agent could prove to be useful if they found the plane. Agents were highly qualified and could always think on their feet, a useful trait if the plane went down in a remote area. Plus, all agents had knowledge of Avalon, which lent itself well to the situation.

"That's good news Meyers. Who's the agent?"

" _ **His name is James Hansen. He's been with us for only two years and was on leave in the US. He wasn't due to report back to duty for another week."**_

"Anything I should know about him?"

" _ **Aside from being a major fantasy geek, which ironically lends itself well to his job, he has a knack for thinking outside the box. Remember that theory on how Avalonian humans might be transplants from Earth? You know we we haven't found any humans in the other continents in Avalon. You of all people remember how that little hypothesis got the egg-heads thinking."**_

Reynolds smiled.

"Yes, now I remember him. Smart kid, that one. Well, if they're all still alive, he'll definitely prove useful to them"

* * *

 _Tristain_

"So all this is nothing more than a summoning gone wrong?" asked Hansen incredulously.

"Pretty much. We had no idea this could even happen. I mean, hell, our plan was for her to summon me" replied Saito.

Hansen said nothing, digesting this new information.

"Well from what I know from the summoning, it seeks out the best candidate no? Well, who knows what would happen if that candidate were flying at 35,000 feet traveling at more than 500 miles per hour?" he said.

"That's what I figured happened" replied Saito. "Maybe SWORD might be able to better study the summoning spells once we reestablish contact"

Hansen nodded.

"Speaking of SWORD, what the hell happened, Hiraga? Your last check in was 4 months ago and it was nothing but a half-burnt note" he asked the Japanese familiar.

Saito looked at Louise before speaking.

"We've been having some trouble with Louise's World Door Spell. Whenever we try to open the portal to Earth, the connection keeps bouncing around from location to location. I sent a note last time but I wasn't sure it made it through until now."

Hansen racked his brain trying to remember what the note said.

"Yeah, I remember that. All we got was 'Portals not working. May be tied to—'. The rest of the message was missing".

Saito nodded. "Yeah, it said 'Portals not working. May be tied to Anomalies. Working to find solution'".

"How's that come along? Have you found anything that might point as to what's causing these damn things on Earth? They're getting worse, you know. Could it be more summonings gone wrong?"

"Summonings were my first guess, but I haven't found any evidence to confirm that. The Summoning Ceremonies only occur in the Spring and most mages here summon creatures from Avalon itself. All we have been able to confirm is that the Anomalies are related to Void magic."

Louise decided to chip in at this point.

"The Romalian Archives are the best source of knowledge when it comes to Void Magic. However, the Church has not been forthcoming until recently. They promised they would allow us to review their tomes on Void in exchange for having Tiffania here summon her familiar."

Hansen digested this new information. In his mind, this reiterated the need for closer contact between Earth and Avalon. The need for an easy way to travel between the two worlds without relying on the unpredictability of magic. _Tightly controlled, of course. Can't have those with questionable intentions setting up shop here._

 _But this changes things. If these summonings aren't the source of the anomalies, then what might be causing them? We need access to those Archives. But then there's the matter of the Familiar…_

Colbert chose that moment to broach that very subject.

"Speaking of Professor Westwood's Familiar, as I was saying before you came in, Agent Hansen, we must determine who it is at once and seal the contract soon".

Hansen's head snapped to the old Headmaster.

"Whoa whoa whoa mate. Now granted, I understand this whole thing was an accident. But you're asking someone to pretty much give up their life to become bound to a mage. I don't think they'll take to kindly to that".

"If we are to access the Romalian Archives and find a solution to your world's Anomalies, the Familiar must be identified and bound to Professor Westwood" Colbert shot back.

"Look, I understand that would be the easiest thing to do but it's not that simple. Headmaster, there's someone down there" he gestured towards the window "who's a familiar to Miss Westwood here. I can almost guarantee they're not going to take too kindly to not only finding out they're the reason we're all here, but that they were brought here to be bound to a mage for life".

Looking at Tiffania, he continued.

"Whoever it is, they'll likely refuse to become bound altogether. I mean, c'mon, whoever it is probably has a life on Earth they're not going to be too happy to leave behind".

Nobody noticed Colbert shaking his head at this.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Miss Westwood. But people don't take too kindly to having their hand forced. Nor are the passengers particularly happy to even be here in the fist place" finished Hansen, looking at Tiffania.

There was an uneasy silence in the office before someone spoke.

"I'm afraid that regardless of their decision, the presumptive familiar's choice is a bit more complicated than that, Agent Hansen. Should they decline to be bound, there would be consequences. Severe consequences" said Colbert.

Everyone's heads snapped towards the bald Headmaster.

"Wait, what? What consequences?" asked Saito. "Is this why you kept insisting this be done now?"

Colbert nodded. Sighing, he stood up and walking towards the window, he spoke.

"What I'm about to tell you is supposed to be secret. If the Church finds out I told you this, they could label us heretics".

Turning around, he looked at Louise before speaking.

"Lady Valliere, you remember your time here at the Academy. You remember how I insisted you complete the Familiar Contract with Saito?"

Louise nodded.

"You said that the Summoning Ritual was a sacred ceremony and that I had to complete it".

"Admittedly, that was a bit of a lie, Lady Valliere. The real reason is much more serious than even that" replied Colbert.

Taking a deep breath, he began.

"Several years ago, I received a letter from a counterpart in the Albion School of Magecraft. He told me he'd had a very curious and unfortunate incident occur during the Springtime Summoning Ceremony".

"In the letter, he detailed an incident in which one of his young students summoned forth a rat as their familiar. The student, repulsed by the concept of being bound to a 'mere rodent', rejected the creature, and sent it flying away of the Academy with a wind spell."

"Within a few weeks, the student fell deathly ill. The healers determined he was losing his magic and there was nothing that could be done. He died a few days later".

Nobody spoke as Colbert continued his explanation.

"It is believed that when the Summoning Ritual is performed, the summoner is entering into a magically binding contract with a very powerful and ancient magic. And by not sealing the familiar bond, a mage would be violating the contract. The punishment for which is the loss of the mage's magic, resulting in death."

"If, Professor Westwood's presumed familiar refuses to be bound, she would lose her magic in a matter of weeks… And die" finished Colbert.

Everyone had a mix of reactions at this revelation. Shock… Horror… Relief… Then more horror… It was Saito who spoke first.

"Hold on, last time Tiffania summoned a familiar, it was well over a few weeks before she and I sealed the Contract. Why didn't she lose her magic then?" he asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it may be due to the fact that neither of you rejected the contract outright. In fact, knowing you as I do Lord Hiraga, I would go so far as to say you would have willingly sealed the Contract had you been aware of it. I believe it is this that kept Professor Westwood from losing her magic".

Seeing as his explanation did not seem to satisfy everyone, he continued.

"There are many in Academia, myself included, who believe that the magic involved in summoning and binding familiars has some sort of intelligence. Some scholars go so far as to say it's even sentient. But short of scouring the Romalian Archives or asking the Founder Himself, there's no way of completely understanding the Magic".

"This sort of Ancient Magic is heavily based on intent. When Professor Westwood summoned Lord Hiraga, the magic must have sensed that he would have accepted the bond and been content to wait until you two sealed it on your own. My gravest concern with this unknown familiar now is that, based on Agent Hansen's assessment, they may not be so willing to do the same."

Colbert's long-winded explanation had rendered the entire room speechless.

"Well, shit… This changes things" said Hansen.

Everyone looked at Tiffania, waiting for her to say something.

She had a curious mix of sadness and anger visible on her face. Sadness and anger at the fact that her presumptive familiar might not accept the contract, thus sealing her fate. Sadness and anger at being forced into this type of situation, into having to make this choice in the first place.

She felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Looking over, she saw Saito had his hand there reassuringly.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure the Familiar accepts. I won't let them condemn you to death" he told her.

Tiffa merely nodded.

"Thanks… I'm sorry; I'm just overwhelmed at all this. Though the question remains. There are over 100 people down there? How will we know who my Familiar is?" she asked.

The answer came from an unexpected source.

"I can help there" came the unmistakable metallic voice of Derflinger.

Pulling the sentient sword out, Saito held it so all could see.

"I'll know who it is once I'm near them. Just walk me near the people from the transport and I'll let you know".

Colbert moved to stand up.

"This is good. They should all be getting ready for dinner, so we'll have them all in one place. Let us do this tonight at dinner then"

* * *

Dinner at the Academy was a very different affair from what normally took place.

At Colbert's insistence, the usual prayer was done in silence. The bald Headmaster had also warned the students beforehand that any rudeness would be punished severely. In his words, none of that "noble/commoner/you can't sit with us" nonsense would be tolerated tonight. Some human traits were truly universal no matter which world you came from, and the Headmaster knew now was the time to create as welcoming an environment for their unwilling guests.

Every spot on the tables was occupied as 122 people crammed into the Dining Hall. Those without spots sat on the floor against the wall as meals were brought in.

The more haughty nobles sneered at having to sit with these "commoners from another world". The Headmaster's warning was still fresh in their heads, though, so they held their tongues.

However, there were many among the students who were curious about life on Earth. They had come of age hearing tales of the great hero Saito Hiraga who came from another world to fight the Ancient Dragon. As such, many struck up conversations with the foreigners. Or at least tried to.

"You don't have ANY magic?"

"No nobles? That is blasphemy"

"What are the women like?"

Despite the enthusiasm of these nobles, most of the passengers were in no talkative mood. They despaired at being separated from their families and friends. They despaired at what they knew the news would be back home. "Missing plane… Passengers feared dead… No survivors… etc…".

As a result, the conversations quickly died down and quiet whispering and murmurs replaced the normally lively dinner.

Hansen sat in a corner, contemplating the conversations in the Headmaster's office. He'd decided to keep the truth about the summoning to himself, fearing retribution against the mages and Tiffania in particular.

Still, he couldn't help but agree with the others' assessment. The Familiar would have to accept. He would help Saito convince them. Condemning an innocent person to death because of events outside their control was simply unacceptable to him. And if it helped find the source of the anomalies, then so be it. If the Familiar later reneged on the contract… Well, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

Looking back at the rest of his fellow passengers, he could all but feel the despair hovering over the meal.

He glanced over at Saito, who was walking around with Derflinger, trying to identify the Familiar.

He seemed to have stopped in front of a section of the table and had Derflinger leaning into his ear.

 _Looks like they found out who it is_ thought the Australian Agent.

* * *

The meal continued in near silence until one passenger, a psychologist, decided he wanted to do something about the melancholy in the air. Standing up on the table, and drawing quite a few looks from the students, he spoke.

"Um, everyone. May I have your attention please?"

The meal stopped as everyone looked up at the man.

"First, I want to thank our very generous hosts for this meal" he began, glancing at the Head Table. Looking back at his fellow passengers, he continued.

"I know many of us are having trouble processing what we've been through today. It's truly been a crazy day. My name is Doctor Benjamin Gates, I'm a clinical psychologist…"

Everyone just looked up at him with different looks. The passengers out of curiousity. The Halkeginians wondering what the hell a psychologist was. Taking a chance he continued.

"If any of you want to talk about what's happened, I'll be outside after dinner holding a bit of a talking circle. If anyone has anything they want to talk about, how they're feeling and whatnot, feel free to join in. I know it's a tough situation. But I know we'll get through it" he finished.

Stepping back down, he was met with a smattering of polite clapping from a few of the more optimistic passengers.

* * *

Hansen looked on as many passengers filed out the door to their accommodations.

He walked over to Saito, who was having a conversation with Derflinger. Louise, Tiffania, and Colbert joined them as well.

"Did you manage to find out who the Familiar is?" asked Hansen.

Saito said nothing and merely pointed to someone walking out the door.

Hansen's eyebrows shot up.

"Well… I was certainly not expecting that… Is there a way to be sure?" he asked.

"Have them hold me. I should be able to confirm it's them" replied Derflinger.

"Here, give me the sword. I've got an idea on how to approach this" said Hansen.

* * *

The psychiatrist's idea had not been as ill received as previously thought. Already, there was a large group of about 28 people gathered in a circle, under the moonlight.

In the center, a small fire burned, illuminating the passenger's faces as they talked about their experiences. By now, nearly everyone had gotten a turn speaking.

"I don't know, man" said one American. "I really thought I was gonna die back there. When we went through all that turbulence, I thought that was it. Game over for me, you know?"

The other passengers muttered in agreement.

"All I could think of was my girlfriend. How I might never see her again" the man continued. "But we made it. We're in the last place I expected but we're alive."

Colbert, Louise, Tiffania, and Louise stood off to the side, waiting for Hansen to bring forth the Familiar. They couldn't help but overhear and Colbert in particular was intrigued at this sort of therapy. From his all too brief impression of the psychiatrist, this sort of treatment could well be put to use with war veterans in Halkeginia.

"Well Michael, we're going to make it back soon enough. When we figure out the next solar eclipse, we'll just fly on through back home. So tell me, what are you going to do when you get back?" asked Dr. Gates.

Michael stood up for emphasis.

"This whole experience made me realize what's important to me. The thought of never seeing Veronica again made me feel like shit. So when I get back, I'm going to kiss her, and ask her to marry me" he said with determination.

This solicited claps and cheers from the other passengers.

"Hear hear" someone said.

Seeing the group fall silent, Hansen took the opportunity to approach the Familiar, who was sitting in the circle.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" he asked his seatmate from the plane.

* * *

Victor had taken his turn speaking, though there hadn't been much too say. He was more than content to listen to the others speak as he watched the fire pit.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" asked a familiar voice. Turning his head, he saw his seatmate on the plane, Agent Hansen.

"Hey you're the agent from the plane. Not at all. Pop a squat" he replied.

"Thanks for that. I see I missed the discussion" said Hansen sitting down next to Victor. "Though I can't complain with what I found instead".

Lifting his arm, Victor noticed he was holding some sort of sword in his hand.

"Check it out mate! A talking sword! This magic stuff's pretty wild. Hey, say something" Hansen said to the sword.

"Ugh, what do you want now? Let's just get this over with so I can stop having to listen to your funny accent"

Victor scoffed in amazement.

"Holy shit! Wow… This is for real?"

"Yep! Found this old bugger on an umbrella stand near the door. Someone must have left it there. You want to hold it?" asked Hansen.

"Shit, yeah man" replied Victor. Reaching to grab it, he felt a slight and brief warmth as he grasped it. The sword glowed as Victor held it, the glow only lasting a second.

"Whoa, this is pretty cool. How the hell do you talk?" he asked the sword.

"Ha! This kid knows the right kind of questions to ask. It's a very old Elven soul magic spell. I was once on my deathbed but that Founder Brimir managed to transfer my consciousness into a blade a loooooooong time ago".

"Huh… Cool!" said Victor handing the blade back to Hansen.

"Oi, I figured I never introduced myself. Name's James Hansen" he said, holding out his hand.

"Victor De la Fuente. People call me Vic" replied Victor, shaking Hansen's hand.

* * *

The two talked for a bit before Hansen excused himself, rejoining the mages and the headmaster.

"Well Derf" asked Saito as Hansen handed the sword back to him. "Is it him for sure?"

"No doubt partner. It's him. He's been marked by the Void. Although there is something else, very faint, that I couldn't quite place as well. But it's him."

"Alright" said Saito, turning to Hansen. "How do we do this? When can we tell him?"

"The sooner the better. Miss Westwood had her magic drained from today. It is likely not sealing the bond is already causing her reserves to recharge at a slower rate" added Colbert. "I would recommend we do this tonight."

Hansen sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as if to put off what he had to do.

"Alright, meet me in your office. I'll bring him up."

* * *

The wait for Hansen and the Familiar in Colbert's office felt like an eternity. Silence reigned as everyone thought of what they were going to say and how they were going to not only approach this, but convince the Familiar to do the right thing.

A firm knock interrupted everyone's thoughts as Hansen stepped into the office followed by the presumptive familiar. He was a tall, brown-haired, fair skinned young man, though he had a bit of an exotic look to him. His eyes showed a hint of confusion and irritation, though they were dominated by a look of curiosity.

"Brought him" said Hansen. "This here is Victor De La Fuente. Incidentally, he was my seatmate on the plane. I told him he's here because he made the sword glow. Which, now that I think of it, isn't exactly inaccurate."

Victor gave Hansen a confused look.

"Wait, what? So why DID you bring me here then? I've had a REALLY long day so I'm REALLY not in the mood for games" he asked the Aussie, irritated at being lied to.

"We asked for you specifically, Mister De La Fuente. And the sword glowing is part of the reason" began Colbert, trying to diffuse the tension. He struggled to find a way to begin the explanation.

"You may have been told that your airplane was brought here by what Agent Hansen calls an Anomaly. I'm afraid that was a bit of a lie. The real reason requires a bit of explanation."

Victor said nothing, but narrowed his eyes.

Colbert took this as his cue to continue.

"Normally, when a mage comes of age, they perform what is known as a Familiar Summoning Ceremony, summoning forth a familiar, or partner, to aid them with their lives as mages. Normally, these familiars are creatures of some sort, usually suited to the mage's abilities."

Victor nodded, somewhat familiar with the concept. _Thank god for Harry Potter._

"However, there are certain mages, such Lady Valliere here and Professor Westwood, who summon not creatures, but humans rather. In fact, Lord Hiraga here was summoned from Earth as Lady Valliere's familiar three years ago. And he was, until recently, Miss Westwood's familiar as well"

At this, Victor looked at the now identified Lord Hiraga. He turned back to Colbert as the bald headmaster continued his explanation.

"Earlier today, Professor Westwood attempted to resummon a familiar. Needless to say, she was successful, so to speak."

Victor felt a chill crawling down his spine. He had a bad feeling of where this conversation was going.

 _No… Not…_

"Me?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

Colbert merely nodded.

Victor looked around at the others in the room.

The blonde girl, Westwood, had a worried look on her face. Hiraga and Valliere carried stern looks. And Hansen looked, down, likely feeling bad for lying to Victor.

Looking back at Colbert, Victor shook his head slightly,

"No… I mean… I can't… Why me? And why summon the plane as well?" he asked.

"No one knows for sure how familiars are chosen. There are a number of theories in regards to specifics, however the generally accepted one is that the spell is somewhat intelligent and seeks out the best-suited familiar. As for your question regarding the airplane, we believe that since you were on the airplane, the spell was unable to bring only you, and instead brought the plane itself."

"This is… What would it mean for me to be a familiar to her?" he asked, gesturing towards Tiffania.

"Void Familiars exist to defend their summoners as they cast their spells. Void spells tend to be long incantations, leaving their casters vulnerable. You would likely become the familiar _Lífþrasir_ , a sort of booster for your summoner. Essentially, the runes you will receive through the contract allow you to temporarily boost your summoner's magic reserves. Although, overusing it will render the runes inert, which is incredibly dangerous, and could get you killed" finished Colbert, looking at Saito as he emphasized that last statement. The Japanese familiar merely gave an embarrassed smile.

"So essentially, a giant magic turbo button" summarized Victor. "How long does this contract last?"

"I'm afraid the Familiar bond is for life. Very few things exist that can break it before then."

Victor's eyes popped out. _Hell no… Nope… Not happening._

"Well… I'm flattered your summoning spell thinks so highly of me" he scoffed. "But I'm going to have to decline. I don't know why it chose me, but I have friends, a job, and a life back home. I can't just give all that up to stay here for the rest of my life."

Looking at the blonde elf, he spoke to her directly.

"I'm sorry. But I can't be your familiar."

"I'm afraid, Mister De la Fuente, that it's a bit more complicated than that" said Colbert.

"What do you mean?" retorted Victor.

Trying to find the right words for someone unfamiliar with magic, Colbert began his explanation.

"When a mage casts the Familiar Summoning Spell, he or she is essentially entering into a magically binding contract with a very old and powerful magic cast by the Founder Brimir himself. In exchange for reaching out through time and space to find a worthy familiar, the summoner must fulfill the contract by binding the summoned familiar to themselves."

"However, if the summoner refuses to uphold their end of the contract by binding their summoned familiar… the Founder's ancient magic will take back their magic… and the summoner will die as a result".

Victor was speechless. He looked at the blonde elf and back at the headmaster.

"No… This isn't… Come on" he said backing up from everyone. "You can't make me do this" he said angrily. "Why the hell would you use that to summon someone and force them into this if you knew this might happen?"

Calming himself down, he looked out the window at the two moons as he asked the question he feared the answer to.

"You're telling me… If I don't do this… If I don't become this… familiar… She'll die?"

Colbert merely nodded.

Victor was silent as he digested this information.

 _This is bullshit!_ he thought. _Who the hell came up with this? I have to say yes just so she won't die?_

He looked back at the professor.

"I have a life back home professor," he said. "I can't stay here forever".

Victor saw the elf look up at him. Victor couldn't help but feel guilty. However much he didn't want to, he'd already made up his mind…

He couldn't be the reason the woman died. But still… There was no way he could leave everything behind…

 _UUUUUGHHH… THIS IS BULLSHIT!_

He looked at her as he spoke.

"If I do this… You realize it's only temporary… One way or another, sooner or later, I have to go home."

The elf had a sad smile come over her face.

"I understand. Will that work professor? Even if he returns to Earth?"

"Well it's never been tested before but as long as the contract is sealed, you should be fine. If I recall, Saito was sent to Earth during the Ancient Dragon Crisis without any adverse effects."

There was an uneasy silence that came over the room.

To Tiffania, it seemed like an eternity before Victor spoke.

"Alright… I don't like this… This type of shit should be illegal... But it's better than the alternative."

There was a pause before he spoke again.

"I'll do it".

Tiffania smiled.

"Thank you" she said.

Victor gave a curt nod, still seething from having his arm twisted like this.

"Alright, so how does this work? Do I kneel or say something, or what?"

Colbert merely looked at Tiffania, who walked up to Victor, wand drawn.

Pointing it at him, and soliciting a slight flinch from Victor, she spoke.

"Pentagon that governs the Five Powers, bless this being and make him my familiar."

Victor felt a tingle go through his body before Westwood did something he was not expecting.

She leaned in and kissed him.

It was a chaste kiss but a kiss nonetheless. Victor was momentarily stunned but went with it.

She broke the kiss and Victor immediately felt something enter him. Or rather, force its way into him. Focused on his chest, the sensation was not entirely pleasant. In fact, it almost burned.

Victor hissed in pain as his chest felt like it was burning. A glow emanated from underneath his shirt.

In his mind, he heard a nagging thought:

 _Obey_

 _Protect_

However, the sensation was brief as he felt another presence force its way into him.

The nagging thoughts went away immediately and the burning in his chest increased as another burning sensation made its way to his back. By now the pain was too much for him to bear.

"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"

* * *

Colbert watched in horror as Victor collapsed onto all fours, struggling with the pain.

Tiffania moved to help him, but was stopped by Colbert.

"The runes are being inscribed. There is nothing you can do" he said.

Tiffania looked to Saito, who was grimacing at what he was seeing, remembering all too well the pain of the runes.

* * *

Victor could feel another wave of foreign thoughts intruding into his mind. It was as if there were two presences in his body, one focused on his chest and the other on his back, fighting for control.

 _Obey_

 _Protect_

The presence in his back flared once more in a wave of pain as the foreign thoughts in his mind subsided once more.

Finally, a warm, gentle feeling began emanating from his back and overwhelmed the commanding presence on his chest.

Victor felt the pain finally subside, but not before hearing a very familiar phrase in his head. One he'd heard in his dreams:

 _Mundalfr_

* * *

Victor collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily as Tiffania and Colbert rushed to check on him.

Carefully sitting up and unbuttoning his shirt, Victor noted a set of runes inscribed on his chest.

"Congratulations Miss Westwood. The contract appears to have been fulfilled successfully" said Colbert.

Tiffania paid him no note as she waited for her new familiar to say something.

Victor noted her look of concern. Though he appreciated it, he still was not too fond of his summoner, considering he'd been forced into this.

"Well… That fucking hurt" he said.

"Yeah, I should have warned you the runes are kind of painful" said Saito sheepishly.

Victor shot him a dirty look as he struggled to stand. The pain in his chest was sharper than the pain in his back… _Wait… My back…_

"Hey… Westwood" he said. "Check my back… It still hurts like hell."

"Your… back?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, it felt like I got branded back there as well" said Victor removing his shirt entirely and showing his back to Tiffania.

A confused look came over Tiffania at what she saw. And she was not the only one. The others came to see and were just as puzzled.

"Headmaster?" she asked.

"This is… I've never seen this before" said Colbert.

 **(Play: The Window of Opportunity – Fringe Season 2 OST – Start at 2:50)**

"Uhhh… Am I reading this right?" asked Saito.

There, written between Victor's shoulder blades, clear as day, were runes no one had ever seen before.

ᛗᚢᚾᛞᛟᛚᚠ

Translated, they read:

 **"Mundalfr"**

"It says: Mundalfr" said Colbert.

Victor's eyes widened at this, the origin of his strange dreams finally revealed.

* * *

 **MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHA… If you read the old story, you should have seen this whole chapter coming. We'll find out in a bit what exactly Mundalfr means.**

 **I expect to get some criticisms from this chapter. I hope I handled Victor's reaction better than I did in the last story.**

 **Longest chapter so far. I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.**


	7. Can You Hear Me Now?

**EDIT 8/19/16: Fixed a glaring plot hole courtesy of a reviewer pointing it out.**

 **EDIT 9/19/16: Changed the time Hansen will portal (1400 Zulu now 1100 Zulu)**

 **(Still working on Chapter 8! About halfway done with it)**

* * *

 **HOLY FUCKING SHIT… FINALLY… I'm sorry for the delay but I had a lot going on between my 9-6 job and a very active (and fulfilling) social life. As a treat, this is the longest chapter thus far.**

 **I want to thank New Universe Returns, Reishin Amara, Ospery, Appbeza, and Ridli Scott for their unwavering support of this story. You guys have reviewed every chapter and in some cases provided very useful insight and ideas. I encourage my other readers to review as well.**

 **GOOD REVIEWS:**

 **Appbeza: You're welcome**

 **Ospery: XD oh I've had my fair share of reading binges**

 **Gak237: Maybe a bit of weak writing on my part. But there really WAS nothing they could do except watch**

 **Reishin Amara: Although it would be amusing, this is going to be a slightly more serious story than the anime.** _ **Mundalfr**_ **will be revealed soon**

 **New Universe Returns: Thank you**

 **Ridli Scott: Hehehe yes it is. And idk, like I said it's supposed to be a more serious story than the anime. There might be a scene like that though**

 **399123: Thanks; I realized that having them at the Academy suited me much better. And yes, there will be more Fringe tie-ins down the line, as well as some thematic/plot devices/quotes from other series and games**

 **And now for one not so fun review:**

 **Nivek Beldo: If despite your disdain for the story, you tough it out and follow the story from here onwards, you'll see this was the only way I could do it. Victor would NOT buy into any political crap as he actively wants to get back. However, he actively, and you'll notice a lot in this chapter, tries not to be a dick.**

 **As for Brimir, let me clear this up for everyone: let's just say the stories about Brimir are 6000 years old. Today, we have very little idea what everyday life or famous people were like ON OUR PLANET 6000 years ago. Hell, unless you follow the Bible religiously (pun TOTALLY intended), you have no idea what Jesus of Nazareth was ACTUALLY like in real life 2000 years ago or if he was the son of God or not. With that much time having passed, the facts about Brimir are bound to be distorted, something that will play a part in the story later. The best I can leave you with is: the Brimiric legends, as with many legends, only have a smidge of truth in them.**

 **And at no point did I say that Victor was unemployed or did not have a job or a life he wanted to get back to. He DOES have friends back home. He DOES have a nice apartment with a good job back home. Hold your horses and don't make assumptions about MY story and where I want to take it. Your review quite frankly pissed me off a bit. So if, after this long explanation you still don't like it, tough shit. I'm not rewriting it to suit you. I've got an outline of where the story goes all the way to the end. No more rewrites for this story.**

 **And now, on to the story!  
**

* * *

 _Tristain_

The light of the twin moons illuminated the balcony as brown eyes stared out across the countryside.

 _Two moons… I'd be surprised if the Universe could find a more obvious sign that I'm about as far away from home as I can be_ thought Victor. The two moons were bright enough that he could see the countryside surrounding the Academy to an extent. Below, just past the circular wall, he could see the moonlight reflecting off the parked airliner on the runway.

He'd been staring out the window for a while now, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. He could almost still feel the burning of his chest runes, as well as the warm hum of the ones on his back.

 _Mundalfr_ he thought.

 _What the hell does it mean? I keep hearing it in my dreams but why?_

No one in the Headmaster's office had known what _Mundalfr_ was. Colbert had even admitted he'd never heard of such a familiar.

When he'd mentioned his dreams of _Mundalfr_ , Colbert had seemed even more confused. The headmaster had emphasized that Victor had made the right choice and that the answers would be revealed as soon as they could gain access to the Romalian Archives.

 _Whatever those are… I'll bet they're like the Vatican Archives if the similarities between worlds keep holding up._

Turning back inside, he took in the room he'd been assigned. The bed seemed comfortable enough, and the room even had a bathroom with what looked like a hand-cranked toilet. Much like the ones he'd seen on his father's boat.

He'd originally been slated to share a room with Hansen but at Colbert's insistence, he'd been moved to one next to Tiffania's.

 _Tiffania_ he thought.

Part of him was still furious for being forced into this mess. Furious at her, the mages, the whole goddamn system of forcing people into contracts. He was a bit bitter at Hansen for lying to him as well. Though he also felt a bit of guilt for being a bit of a dick the night before. But still… He felt it justified considering what had happened to them all.

 _Shit_ he thought. _The passengers'll hate me if they ever find out._

Hansen had made it a point to have everyone in that office swear silence on the whole familiar-summoning-brought-the-plane-over thing out of concern for everyone's safety.

"Your concern is touching" had been Victor's snarky response.

His carry-on lay beside the bed, half unpacked. His larger suitcase was still in the belly of the plane, which the crew had agreed to unload in the morning.

Throwing his shirt onto the chair, he climbed into bed, exhausted from the day's events. He fell asleep quickly, his internal clock out of whack with the different time zones.

* * *

Tiffania looked at the stack of assignments she had been grading in the morning, before everything had happened. They sat there on her desk in her room, almost mocking her as if nothing had changed. _Everything has changed, though_ she thought.

Her assumption that her new familiar would be Saito, or someone similar to her experience with Saito could not have been farther from the truth.

Her new familiar had resented her and shown contempt towards Colbert during his explanation.

 _Not that I can blame him… He made a good point. Familiars generally have no say in being chosen. Still, I didn't expect this…_

Seeing as the summoning spell usually chose someone who would work well with the summoner, Tiffania had expected someone of at least a similar demeanor to Saito; easy-going, understanding, and loyal. Instead, she'd been given a stubborn, bitter man who seemed to hold a grudge.

 _And there's the other issue… He's only here until they return to Earth… How is that even going to work? Then again, we only need to do this to get the Church off our back. Ugh… I hate politics._

Tiffania sighed, shaking her head at the notion of politics. Glancing outside at the moons, she reached for the bottle of wine in her cupboard and poured herself a glass. This was one of her favorite wines, a red grown locally at Saito and Louise's estate.

Savoring the liquid, she sat and thought of a way to solve her problem. She would have to research the familiar bond more closely. And yet, the only way to do that lay at the Romalian Archives. Despite her warm welcome the last time they were there, Tiffania could not help but worry.

In the wake of the Ancient Dragon Crisis, the newly elected Pope Caius II, who had replaced the deceased Pope Vittorio, had ushered in a more progressive relationship between the Humans and the Elves. Caius went so far as to reject the notion of a Crusade into the Holy Land, drawing much scorn and derision from the radicals in Romalia. These fringe groups only grew angrier when Caius gave Cardinal Mazarin of Tristain his blessing to invite Elven scholars and merchants to the more progressive Tristania in the hopes of hopefully kick-starting a more amicable trade relationship with the Elven lands. The move had proved so successful that a similar arrangement had been implemented in the other Brimiric Countries, further infuriating the radicals.

However, with Caius' death and the recent election of the radical Cardinal Viscido Sforza to the title of Pope, attitudes towards Elves had been shifting in Halkeginia. And not for the better. Sforza, now known as Pope Honorius, stood for everything Caius had not. Calls for a new Crusade to the Holy Land had begun again and the hatred for the Elves that had for a brief period begun to subside returned in full force. Already, the Elves in Romalia had either returned home or fled to Tristainia and Germania after several high profile attacks had left Elves brutalized or dead in the streets of the Romalian Capital.

The hateful rhetoric was now spreading as far the traditionally more progressive Tristain. Mazarin's next step, which would have allowed for Humans to visit and live in the Holy Land, had been derailed after the attacks in Romalia. The Elves had, in no uncertain terms, forbidden the Humans from sending anyone to the Holy Land, and were seriously considering calling all of their people back home from Halkeginia.

The spread of the rhetoric from Romalia was also having a detrimental effect on the Tristainians themselves. Already, there had been incidents in the Capital. Small incidents, a rock thrown at an Elven merchant, slurs being shouted, etcetera, but incidents nonetheless.

The somewhat hostile atmosphere permeating Halkeginia meant Tiffa had no idea what to expect in Romalia.

 _And yet he wants me, an elf, my familiar, and the rest of us there… I don't like it_ she thought.

Downing the rest of the wine, she changed into her nightclothes and climbed into bed. Her mind continued to wander as it drifted off to sleep, the wine doing its work…

* * *

 _The antechamber to the temple below was grandiose, almost glowing as Victor walked along the galleries to the sides._

 _Questions on where he was, how he got there, or what he was doing there went unasked and unanswered as he walked briskly along the gallery. All Victor knew was that he needed to get downstairs and to the center of the temple._

 _He noticed movement off to his right, in the gallery on the opposite side. He couldn't tell much at this distance but all he saw was blonde hair running down the gallery towards the stairs. Victor picked up the pace and followed the corridor down, turning left, then right, and right again, scrambling down the stairs._

 _As he came to the bottom of the stairs, he found himself staring across the way. There, standing at the bottom of the opposite stairs was Tiffania. She looked just as confused as he did._

 _Before either of them could speak, an echoing whisper came from the temple center._

 _The whisper snapped them out of their staring contest and both master and familiar began running towards the center of the temple. Coming across the doors at the end of the massive antechamber, Victor stole a glance at Tiffania, who still retained a confused look on her face._

 _The massive doors began to swing open before he could comment on anything, revealing the temple within._

 _The large, circle shaped temple contained an altar in the center. Looking around, Victor could see four other doors to form a pentagon shape and in front of each of them stood pairs of figures as well. Who they were, Victor could not tell as they all wore glowing white robes._

 _Suddenly, light began to envelop him and the center of the altar glowed. Blinded, the last thing Victor saw was a symbol of a 5 point star within a pentagon._

* * *

 _Tristain_

Victor's eyes snapped open. He never could get quality sleep in a foreign bed but this was…

 _What the hell was that? And that symbol… I've seen it before… But where?_

More questions continued to stew in his mind as he glanced over to the window. The sun was already just over the horizon.

Thinking back to the previous day, Victor reflected on everything that had happened.

 _This really is happening… Oh God… What about everyone back home? What about Erin?_

He could see all the news stories, nonstop coverage of the "Disappearance of Oceanic 29", talking heads and pundits discussing theories, all the while his friends would have no idea what the hell had happened or if he was even alive.

Victor let out a heavy sigh. It was then he noticed how hot he felt. Despite sleeping in nothing but gym shorts, his brow was sweaty and the sheets felt heavy on him. His head hurt as well. _I need some damn coffee_ he thought. _If this world even has coffee that is..._

Moving towards the bathroom he filled the wash basin with cold water and splashed it on his face. Washing his face off, he noticed the runes on his chest. Bringing his hand to them, he could still remember the pain from the previous night. Turning around, he glanced at the runes on his back.

 _Mundalfr. Still gotta find out what that means_ he thought.

As he grabbed his clothes, he tried shaking his head, as if to clear his headache from his head. The water seemed to have finally cooled him down but his head still pulsed in pain as he left his room, searching for some breakfast.

* * *

Tiffania awoke, confused at what she had seen.

 _That was an odd dream_ she thought. The symbol at the end was similar to the seal of Brimir, but slightly modified. But it was the presence of her familiar that had her confused. He'd been glowing, almost on fire in the dream. And the figures in white, she couldn't quite put her finger down on it but they looked familiar.

 _Who were they? And what does all this mean?_

She had learned quite a bit about her kin after being exposed to them in the years following the Ancient Dragon Crisis. While the Elves knew most people forgot about their dreams, they believed dreams that one remembered had some grounding in reality, either past, present, or future.

Brushing her frazzled bed hair in the bathroom and preparing herself for the day ahead, the line of thought came back to her familiar, Victor.

On the one hand, Tiffania could sympathize with him. Torn from his home and forced into a contract in which he had no interest, it was no wonder for him to be antagonistic to her.

However, they had to present a united front for the Pope in order to access the Archives. And, if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she was hoping he or one of his fellow passengers might lend some outside perspective to her current mission.

Seeking to subdue Romalia's toxic influence, and in no small part due to his disdain for the current pontiff, Cardinal Mazarin, along with Queen Henrietta, sought to preempt the hateful rhetoric spouting from Romalia by reminding Tristain just what the Elves had done for them when the Ancient Dragon threatened their lives. The strategy was working to an extent but the Crown could only push back so much, lest they threaten excommunication or worse from Romalia. Tristain's liberal attitudes had already drawn the ire of the Church and Henrietta was not keen on pushing them too far and jeopardizing her long-term goal.

Aside from being more tolerant and even encouraging scientific research (thanks in no small part to Saito), part of Queen Henrietta's long-term plans to better life in Tristain involved grooming the next generation of Nobles to be selfless and forward thinking, always seeking to improve the lives of the Commoners who lived under them. Beloved as he was, her father's reign had been plagued by corruption and abuse of power by the nobility. And so, Henrietta and Cardinal Mazarin had tasked the Tristain Academy's staff with the mission of grooming the next generation to this end goal, a task Colbert had eagerly taken up.

With the rhetoric from Romalia threatening to spill over into Tristain, Cardinal Mazarin had quietly asked Tiffania to focus her efforts on molding the young Nobles into leaders eager to seek peace and coexistence with the Elves. Risking excommunication himself, he had warned her that if Tristain was dragged into a Crusade, an entire generation of Tristanians would be wiped out.

Her efforts had been successful to an extent. She had taught her students what little she knew of her people, including customs, some of their history, even the basis of their magic. Many had taken to her teachings with great interest, having come of age with tales of Saito, Louise, and Tiffania, and the coalition of Humans and Elves that had fought against the Ancient Dragon. However, despite having Saito speak of his utopian homeland and how there was no war there, she could not convince the more skeptical or traditional students that coexistence was possible.

Now she not only had a familiar from Saito's world, she had hundreds of people from the same world. She had seen how different some of them looked. And yet they all seemed to come together in a time of crisis.

 _Imagine the possibilities!_ she had thought. _The stories and lessons we could learn from all of them! How they live together despite being different!_

This line of reasoning brought her back to her familiar. They, at the very least, needed to present a united front in Romalia. But she hoped she could get him to warm up, and perhaps even help her out.

Finishing her morning routine, Tiffania resolved to at the very least, make peace with her familiar after her afternoon classes, and hope he came around later.

* * *

Hansen paid the passengers trickling into the Dining Hall no mind as a storm of thoughts and questions raged in his mind.

His current predicament revolved around finding a way to get a definitive message to SWORD about their situation. He had a theory but he wasn't sure if it would even work.

"Hansen."

He looked up just in time to see the owner of that voice, none other than last night's man of the hour Victor, sit down across from him.

"Victor. Sleep well?" he asked the young familiar.

"No thanks to your stunt last night. I slept well enough" came the snarky reply.

"Sorry about that. It was the best course of action" he said, immediately regretting his choice of words.

"What the hell kind of lame excuse is that? You set me up…" retorted Victor.

"And for good reason…" interrupted Hansen.

Luckily for him, one of the kitchen staff came by with breakfast, giving Hansen a chance to try to explain his reasoning to Victor. Careful not to reveal any classified information, he explained.

"Look, here's the deal. We need to know when and where the next eclipse is to fly home, right? Who has that information? The Church. The anomalies that are popping up all over Earth? Who might have information on what's causing them and how to stop them? The Church. Who won't give us the information we both need if we don't cooperate? The Church. And who would have died if you hadn't said yes? Professor Westwood who, last I checked, is key to getting the Church to help us!"

Victor looked like he was about to say something, but didn't, merely sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Now do you see why I set you up?" finished Hansen.

"Yeah…" replied Victor. "I get it… But I still don't like it. Kind of a dick move."

"I don't like it either mate. But it's the only way I could see us get what we need".

Being a SWORD Agent in Halkeginia, Hansen was in a unique position to potentially find information on the source of the Anomalies on Earth. And where better to start than the Church?

"Now… Random question. You told me on the plane you used to work with mobiles, right?" asked Hansen.

"Years ago, yeah. I worked part-time at a Horizon Wireless store while I was in school" replied Victor digging into his breakfast. "Why?"

Seeing as Victor was familiar to a Void mage with similar abilities to Valliere, Hansen decided to trust him with what he said next.

"This stays between us for now - I'll tell the other passengers later - but Valliere and probably Westwood as well have the ability to open portals to Earth" he began.

Victor almost choked on his food. "Perfect! We can…"

"Whoa there, mate. I wasn't finished" Hansen said, cutting off Victor. "Don't get your hopes up, the portals have been jumpy lately. You're likely to lose an arm or a leg if you try to go through. Our best bet to get home is still the eclipse But that brings me to your experience with mobiles."

"We can't risk sending anything physical through but… You reckon we can get a signal through these portals? Long enough for me to send a message to Earth?" finished Hansen.

Victor's face scrunched up in thought.

"I see where you're going with this… I suppose it's possible. I don't know how these portals you mentioned work though, so I can't be sure we'd get a cell signal. But we should definitely try it, let everyone know we're not dead."

"My thoughts exactly. Although until we establish that we CAN communicate, I can't chance an open channel and let, say Russia or China, know about this world. The people I work for, they'll know what to do. I'll send an encrypted message to them, they'll know how to handle this whole situation and try to get word out to people's relatives" replied Hansen, lying through his teeth.

There was no way SWORD would trust the emotionally unstable family and friends of the passengers with the knowledge of Avalon. At best, they'd give them some hope, maybe that the plane made it to an island in the Pacific. But that was their problem. He knew his priority was making contact. Let the big-wigs handle the politics and PR.

The rest of breakfast passed without much controversy. Idle chit-chat filled the hall. The passengers, who'd been largely silent during dinner the previous night, chattered away at the wondrous sights they'd already seen. Floating books, fantastic creatures, magic spells, they were in awe of it all.

The Nobles on the other hand paid the passengers little mind, preferring to talk amongst themselves of the strange visitors from the metal dragon.

Finishing breakfast, Hansen turned to Victor, who had been glancing around the dining hall of what he was calling "Discount Hogwarts".

"We need to find Lady Valliere to open the portal. I'm certain Tiffania could do it but I know for a fact Valliere has the most raw power, which means we can keep it open as long as we need to" he told him.

"Great… You go ahead and do that" replied Victor, swallowing the last of his breakfast.

"What are you talking about, mate? You're coming with me."

"Wait what?"

* * *

"You know, when I mentioned around the bonfire that I wanted to go see around the castle, this wasn't what I meant" grumbled Victor. He'd wanted to go up to the ramparts and take a look at the scenery, not go stumbling around the staff hallways.

"Well the plane's not scheduled to be unloaded till after lunch, so we've some time to kill" replied Hansen. "Plus, I might need your expertise."

Victor merely rolled his eyes as they walked towards the kitchen.

Finding Valliere and Hiraga had been a relatively easy matter of asking some of the kitchen staff. Walking into the kitchen, the two Earthers saw the couple chatting away with the head chef.

"...when this one was but a wee Second Year! They got along as well as a cat and a dog thrown into a bag!" bellowed Marteau, laughing.

Louise and Saito both sported embarrassed smiles on their faces as Marteau told the younger staff of the duo's days at the Academy.

"Hey, we weren't that bad!" replied Saito, sipping his tea. "We came around… eventually."

"Reminiscing, are ya Hiraga?" quipped Hansen as they walked up.

"Marteau here felt he HAD to bring it up" replied Saito.

"Well if the two of you are looking for a bit of excitement, I've got a crazy idea on how to get word back home" said Hansen.

Saito merely raised an eyebrow.

* * *

"You're right… It is crazy… And I like it" grinned Saito as they walked along the corridor towards the courtyard. Louise had lost track of the conversation the instant it had shifted to talk of signals, satellites, and cell towers and simply had a confused look on her face.

"So you want me to open a portal to Earth and hold it open as long as possible?" she asked to clarify.

"Yeah, the way I figure, the longer it's open, the better chance my message has of going through" replied Hansen.

"There's no way of knowing whether the whole 'portal-bouncing' thing will even let your phone get a signal though" added Victor.

"If all else fails, we'll try again later and chuck a coded paper message through the instant it connects. Hopefully it makes it and if it doesn't, no one will be able to decipher it" noted Hansen.

"My reserves are large enough that I should be able to hold it open for about five to ten minutes. Any more and I'll have to close it. Or borrow some magic from you, Victor" said Louise.

Victor took this answer as a sign to ask about something that had been bothering him since the night before.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask someone about this _Lifdrasir_ thing. How exactly does that work?" he asked.

Saito took the opportunity to clarify.

"Well, basically, from my experience, and after doing a bit of research, you're kind of like a magical solar battery. You take in ambient magic and store it until it's needed by a Void mage. They can call upon this magic reserve to fuel their own Void spells until it's depleted. Completely depleting it then forces it to switch to the power of the runes themselves. When those are exhausted, the Runes will disappear."

Victor absorbed this information. _Ok, so that's not AS bad as they made it sound last night._

Saito continued. "When I was _Lifdrasir_ , that's precisely what happened. Louise drew on my power until the runes themselves were exhausted. We previously thought they drew on life force but obviously, I'm still alive" he finished, shrugging his shoulders.

"Good thing too" quipped Louise, smiling. "Otherwise, I'd have had to beat your stupid-dog ass back to life."

"Hardy har har" replied Saito, rolling his eyes, earning a punch in the shoulder from Louise. "Love you too, lemon-chan."

"So, theoretically, if I really wanted out of this contract thing, I could just de-power the runes?" asked Victor.

"You're welcome to try it, but we need you as a Familiar in a month's time when we go to Romalia. Maybe hold off on doing that until then?" replied Saito. "Also, between you and me, I think you were a little cold to Tiffania last night."

Victor leveled a "really?" look at Saito.

"I'll admit I was pissed last night but you all pretty much blackmailed me last night into sealing this contract. Wouldn't you have had the same reaction? Hell, didn't you have the same reaction when Louise brought you here?"

Saito paled, and scratched his neck, embarrassed. Louise looked away, suddenly finding the walls very interesting.

"Ummm… Louise kind of just sealed it before I knew what was happening" he said with an embarrassed smile. "The branding… may have knocked me unconscious until that night" he admitted. "Hell, I thought it was all a bad dream until I saw the two moons in the sky. And we didn't know anything about Void Mages or Void Familiars at that point. Louise was the first one to emerge in 6000 years."

Victor sighed. "Alright, I guess I was a bit harsh last night but still, you can see why I was upset. I've got a life back home, friends, a nice apartment, my job pays pretty well…" it was then that Victor had a realization. "Oh shit… Damn it…." he said, hanging his head.

"What?" asked Saito.

"I am so fired…" admitted Victor.

"Fret not" said Hansen, nudging his shoulder. "I can make sure SWORD takes care of any issues like that. Hell, they'll probably pay your bills too."

Raising his eyebrows, Victor quipped. "Really? Wow that's pretty cool."

"Yeah, there shouldn't be a problem once we get everything sorted."

"I don't mean to be the materialistic weasel here but you think they could get me tax-exempt status while they're at it?" asked Victor.

"Don't push your luck, mate" came the deadpan response.

"Someone just has to take the fun out of everything…" grumbled Victor.

"Moving back to Tiffania" continued Saito, "I think you should at least talk to her. She's a good friend of ours and a nice girl. She was my master when I was _Lifdrasir._ At least be cordial."

Despite his unhealthy propensity for holding a grudge, Victor couldn't help but see that Saito had a point, mentally rolling his eyes all the while. He could at least be cordial to the person he had to pretend to be on the same page with when it came to the Church.

"Alright, alright" replied Victor. "I'll talk to her tonight."

* * *

Hansen had started typing his message as the group came to the center of the Vestri Courtyard. The group drew looks from some of the passengers who had been walking around that morning. Hansen took this moment to address the gathering crowd.

"Alright, ladies and gents. Here's the update. We're going to try to use an experimental portal to get word to Earth that we're alive." This sent a wave of murmurs through the crowd. Soon the inevitable questions began to pop up.

"Can't we use this portal to get home?"

"Will it even work?"

"Folks, please" said Hansen, trying to calm the crowd. "Unfortunately, we can't use this to get home. It's too unstable and anyone going through could lose an arm or a leg. But hopefully, we can send a message through the portal, just to let them know we're all alive. They can tell us when the next eclipse is."

Turning back to Louise Saito, and Victor he continued.

"My phone is satellite capable, meaning we don't need to open up in range of a tower. I just need any sort of signal; wi-fi, satellite, mobile, any signal will do."

"I'll keep it short and to the point" he said finishing his brief message. "The smaller the message, the better chance it'll go through. Aaaand that should do it. Let me just encrypt it…"

The others watched as Hansen paid attention to nothing but his phone. A beep signaled that the encryption process was complete. Anyone without the decryption key would see nothing but gibberish.

"Alright, moment of truth. Whenever you're ready Lady Valliere" he said.

Louise nodded and began casting. Victor and the other curious passengers watched in amazement at their first up close display of magic as light began to gather at Louise's wand.

 _Oh that is so cool_ thought Victor.

Finishing the chant, a glowing oval opened in front of her wand. The others couldn't help but stare as a drab grey room was visible through the opening. Hansen moved next to the oval.

"Come on, come on…" he muttered staring at the taunting **"No Service"** indicator. Suddenly it changed to one bar of signal strength.

"Sending!" cried Hansen. He paid the portal no mind as he watched the email progress bar on his phone.

The view in the portal suddenly changed to a busy street, before shifting several more times.

All the while, Hansen's eyes never left his phone.

Staring at the signal strength indicator, he prayed the message would go through. It still showed one bar.

"Come on, come on…" he muttered.

Aside from Hansen's muttering, the courtyard was silent. A swoosh suddenly emanated from the phone and interrupted that silence.

"YES! IT WORKED!" cried Hansen, leaping for joy as Louise cancelled the portal, wavering a bit from burning through her reserves.

"Alright! So what happens now?" asked Victor.

"Now we wait… My message told them the next time we'll portal, which will be tomorrow."

* * *

 _Brussels, A Few Moments Earlier_

"BREACH! We have a breach!"

"Scanning… It's right on top of us!"

"It's the transport room!"

Reynolds's eyes bulged out. The transport room could only mean Valliere was trying to establish contact.

"Bring up the surveillance camera!" he yelled.

The screen switched to the surveillance camera showing the room reserved for Higara and Valliere to portal in, located in another wing of the underground headquarters. As expected, the center of the room was glowing as a dot expanded into a portal. As with all of the recent attempts, this one looked unstable as it wobbled.

 _Come on… Send something_ thought Reynolds.

The portal lasted no more than five seconds before it vanished.

"Tracking… Portal's now 200 meters to the south."

Reynolds watched as the portal jumped around a few more times, the farthest reading showing it almost a kilometer away.

 _They've never held it open this long since the instability began…_

"Levels falling. Portal is collapsing."

Reynolds watched as the REL readings fell to normal parameters. This had been the longest lasting portal since contact had been lost 4 months prior.

"Did you see anything come through?" he asked.

"Nothing sir".

Reynolds rubbed his temple, wondering what that had been about before the answer came to him.

"Director! Australia's on the horn. They said it's urgent" cried an aide.

"On screen."

The main screen fizzled as Director Meyers appeared, looking tired but excited as well.

" _ **Reynolds, you're not going to believe what just happened. We've got an email from Hansen! He's in Halkeginia!"**_

Reynolds nearly choked on his coffee as he heard this.

"What? How?"

" _ **We just received an encrypted email from Hansen. I'm forwarding it to you now. I think you're better off reading it."**_

A pop-up appeared on the side of the screen as the message was enlarged for all to read. Encrypted in case any uninvited guests had intercepted it, the message was nothing but gibberish unless the proper decryption key was provided. Which was only possessed by SWORD.

 _James Hansen, Authentication 47AT22BC37GE_

 _Encryption Code: Amber_

 _Vys5e5me1y4nC325i63456s3suh4ehkp435nui4kr6dbm8yhdfadduDn58ecd6yeh9. 2lyc5i5ymdea0c.7Sy6t4a4lu6h7dy8ldfe8d6r54R3e3n3y54k6y8.0Mu-l8y6m4c3l3u2ub5an6y7d8e8h8k9.9Femmb8un5d4y6m7y458kyehyydamajah1riht6n7atWimivune1hcdnilde7u8h9c._

"Run decryption program Amber" ordered Reynolds.

In a second the message changed from unintelligible gibberish to something readable.

 _Familiar Summoning brought OCN29 to Halk. Landed safely at TMA. 0 casualties. In contact w/ Hiraga. Locals cooperating. Will portal tomorrow at 1100 Zulu for instructions - JH_

Silence dominated the information center. Reynolds let out a breath he had not realized he'd been holding. Someone cheered and the rest of the room followed.

Letting a smile grow on his face, Reynolds cleared his throat and began barking orders.

"Alright everyone. Let's focus. We still have a job to do. Recon, tell Mobile 1 they're being reassigned. Bring them in and get them to the Academy's location on Earth and set up surveillance. I want updates every hour."

"Someone get me the date to the next solar eclipse. That's probably the best chance we'll get to bring everyone home."

"Everyone else, keep up the good work. Anybody has any ideas, let me know. Let's get to it."

Seeing everyone moving to their assignments, Reynolds was finally able to take stock of the situation.

Lucky did not even begin to describe it.

Somehow, the plane had been summoned to Tristain. Not only had the plane been intercepted before it could fly off, it had also been able to land safely at the Academy. The contact with Hiraga had also been surprising.

In the months following loss of contact with Hiraga, the Mobile Reconnaissance Division's surveillance of him had been rolled back in favor of more pressing matters, such as keeping up with the increasing Anomalies and monitoring Romalia's new Pope. As a result, the team assigned to monitoring Hiraga only checked in on him once every two weeks as they made their rounds across the Belgian/Tristanian countryside.

Now, he had another conundrum. How to handle the families and friends of those on board. He couldn't just tell the truth. No, it was still too soon for full disclosure on the Avalon matter. If word got out, he'd have private interests, hostile states, and terrorists all racing towards the next eclipse or finding some other way to get to the other side. And there was no way he could trust the loved ones with keeping their mouths shut. Someone ALWAYS talked.

No, at this point, he had to prioritize keeping Earth blissfully unaware of the world that lay just next to them. But Reynolds wasn't entirely heartless. He had to give the loved ones some sort of hope, enough to have them hold out until the next eclipse.

His desktop pinged with a new email.

 _FROM: Lea Gardot, SWORD Planetary Sciences_

 _TO: Nick Reynolds, Director/Agent-In-Charge_

 _SUBJ: Eclipse Date_

 _Next eclipse is on November 27th. Eclipse is expected to occur somewhere in Eastern Turkey. Working on figuring out a heading for the pilots in Tristain to return on._

 _Lea_

Reynolds breathed a sigh of relief. The eclipse would take place well within the range of the airliner, meaning that the plane could easily fly through and come out where they wanted to.

If Hiraga's previous transits through the Eclipse were any indication, anything coming through emerged where it wanted to no matter the relative position of the Eclipse on Earth. Perfect given that the next Eclipse was within screaming distance of ISIS territory AND the grand clusterfuck that was the Syrian Civil War. Not to mention the Russians in Syria...

 _Damn magic and your inconvenient and nonsensical logic._

Reynolds thought of where they could have the plane come out of the portal.

 _Probably near Wake Island or Midway. They're remote military installations, nobody will ask any questions and it makes things easier for us._ That left where to fake the crash of the plane.

The night the plane had disappeared, he'd ordered fake passenger names added to the manifest in order to sell the idea that the plane had gone down on an island in the Pacific. No one would buy the fact that all the passengers would have survived not only the crash, but two months on a deserted island.

 _Thus far, they are looking near its last known position. If prior disappearances are any indicator, they'll branch out along likely vectors. Perhaps we can give them a nudge in the wrong direction. That should give us enough time to come up with a plan on how to fake a plane crash on an island in the opposite direction. Somewhere large enough to sustain 120 people for two months. And somewhere, people won't think to look._

Moving to his computer, he started typing an email.

* * *

 _Tristain_

The elation at the successful message was still in the air even in the late afternoon, as a group of passengers moved to unload the parked plane. Captain Rollins had switched on the plane's APU allowing the cargo doors to be opened. First Officer Lapidus, along with the relief flight crew were down by the cargo bays opening the hydraulically operated doors.

Thanks to some help from one of the Earth Magic professors, ramps had been raised up to the cargo doors in order to facilitate unloading.

Wide-body aircraft like the 787 use large cargo pallets in lieu of simply tossing passengers' bags into the cargo hold, in order to save time loading at the gate. This also allowed cargo and mail to be carried on passenger flights. As was the case with Oceanic 29.

Victor grunted as he pulled down another bag from the pallet. Fifteen minutes and he still hadn't found his suitcase.

"Mister De La Fuente. I was hoping you had a moment?" came a gentle voice. Turning around, he saw none other than his summoner, Tiffania, approaching.

"Ummm just a moment though, we've still got a lot of bags left" he replied, though admittedly he just wanted to put off talking to his Master just a bit longer.

"That's fair enough" said Tiffania, struggling to overcome her shyness and maintain some sort of control of the conversation. "I just wish to speak with you tonight after dinner regarding our… situation. Will that be amenable?"

Victor paused for a moment before answering.

"Sure. That works. I'll come up after dinner."

Tiffania nodded. "Very well. I will speak with you then. My quarters are next to yours. Just give me a knock."

As she walked away, Victor mentally sighed. He'd been trying to put this off as long as possible. He wasn't pissed anymore, but like any young twenty-something, he would rather avoid difficult conversations.

 _Please don't tell me every conversation I have in this place is going to sound like I'm in the fucking Palace of Versailles_ he groaned inwardly. Despite coming from a rather upper-class background himself, his parents had always instilled the value of humility into him. As a result, he would always mentally roll his eyes whenever he had to act "bougie" as he put it.

Throwing himself back into the unloading routine, he finally spotted his bag in the pallet currently being unloaded. Setting it aside, he turned back to the next palette. This one was colored differently, something the others noticed too.

"Hey Captain!" asked one of the passengers. "What's with these ones? They look different?"

Rollins, who'd been supervising the unloading from inside the cargo bay, poked his head out.

"They're cargo pallets. We usually have some space reserved for cargo and mail. Hang on, I've got the manifest somewhere in here."

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _SWORD HQ_

 _1803 Hours (6:03 PM)_

"Floyd" said Director Reynolds as in walked one Alexander Floyd, Head of the Analyst Corps.

"Hey Nick. Couple of things. Mobile 1 has reached the Academy's site on our side and are reporting back. The plane is intact and landed. Last report I got said the passengers were unloading the cargo."

"Good. Keep the updates coming. Anything interesting comes up, let me know."

"Will do. You know, I took a look at the cargo manifest. Looks like the passengers are in for a treat" he said.

"What did you find?"

"Well…"

* * *

 _Tristain_

"Check it out, mate!" said Hansen, opening one of the cargo pallets they'd unloaded from the plane.

"You're kidding…" added Victor, as he saw the contents.

"Our own selection of emergency radios. Completely equipped with hand-cranks and USB inputs. Thank you Cyclone season" commented Hansen.

"Hey Captain! Can we grab these? It's not like they're going to be delivered on time anyway" asked one passenger.

"If it lightens the plane for takeoff and the journey home, I don't care" shouted Rollins from inside the hold.

"Mine!" said Victor, picking up one of the radios and throwing it into his suitcase. Several of the other passengers quickly followed suit.

"Well charging my phone and laptop should be no problem now. Wonder what else is in there?" he said, glancing back at the hold.

"Got it!" cried out Rollins as he stepped out of the hold with the cargo manifest. "Let's see… Two pallets of emergency survival equipment, some IT goods, several pallets of mail, perishables… most of this is just a bunch of useless melarkey. Still, like I said, it can't hurt to lighten the plane for when we take off for home." Looking up from the manifest, he spoke to the passengers.

"If you find anything of interest in the cargo containers, feel free to grab it. We'll deal with it when we get back home" he explained, purposely ensuring to mention returning home, so as to keep hopes up.

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _SWORD HQ_

 _1803 Hours (6:03 PM)_

"Well at least that'll keep them occupied for the time being… What else did you need?"

"The other reason I'm here is a bit more serious" he said closing the door. "We've got a bit of a security issue."

Reynolds raised an eyebrow as Floyd continued.

"Server logs indicate one of my analysts made copies of several key files on Avalon, including Hansen's email."

Reynolds paled. Had they gotten to one of his agents?

"Who?"

"Alphonse Schoden. With the Observation Division."

"Get him in my office. I want to speak to him."

"That's what concerns me. Schoden clocked out early today. Said he wasn't feeling well."

Reynolds paused for a moment before reaching for his phone. There was only one person he trusted to take care of this. And in this kind of work, nothing was left to chance.

The line rang twice before it was picked up on the other end.

" _SpecOps"_

"Owens, pick your six best agents. I need two teams ready in 15 minutes…"

* * *

 _1843 Hours (6:43 PM)_

 _Apartment of Alphonse Schoden_

The doorknob to the non-descript apartment jiggled a bit before being forced opened.

Walking inside, three SWORD agents fanned out, searching the apartment.

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Clear" said the third agent. Putting his hand to his ear, he communicated to his superior.

"Schoden's not at his apartment."

" _Confirmed. We have eyes on him. Return to us."_

* * *

 _1917 Hours (7:17 PM)_

Alphonse Schoden, analyst for SWORD HQ, walked briskly through the streets of Brussels. He arrived at his destination, a very specific street corner in the middle of the city.

His eyes darted around as he waited, sweat building on his brown. Finally, a blue sedan pulled up, an Uber sticker in the window.

Calming himself down, Schoden climbed into the front seat of the car.

" _It says you're going to Number 17 Rue Saint-Jean?_ " asked the driver in French.

" _Yes, I'm meeting a friend there at the Rusted Furnace"_ replied Schoden.

" _Oh, that is a good place. What is the occasion?"_

" _My friend's homecoming party. He's been hitchhiking around Europe on a freight car. He's finally come home and I've been longing to see him."_

" _Hmm… I will get you there"_ replied the driver.

The rest of the trip was silent, which unnerved Schoden slightly. He was taking a big risk doing this. But the alternative was… He shuddered at the thought.

 _No…_ he thought. He had no choice. He was screwed otherwise.

After about 30 minutes of driving through the streets of Brussels in a seemingly erratic route, the car slowed to a halt near the Mont des Arts. Outside, the city bustled as outside, the sun had dipped below the horizon.

The driver switched off the car but stared straight ahead.

"Were you followed?" he asked in Russian-accented English.

"Of course not. I was careful. Random routes to the corner" replied Schoden.

Satisfied, the driver turned to Schoden. "Well _tovarisch_ , it seems you are actually serious about our offer. If your information makes my bosses happy, you'll find all your problems will go away. What do you have for me?"

Schoden glared at the driver, but pulled out a USB containing what he'd copied off the SWORD servers.

"Something that will make your bosses very happy, especially with how things are going for your people in Ukraine" he replied.

The driver smirked. "NATO propaganda. My people are not involved in some squabble between rebels and a corrupt government."

Schoden rolled his eyes. "Uh huh… Sure… Just make sure my troubles are gone, you hear?"

"If your information proves to be useful, then we…"

(CRASH)

The sentence went unanswered as someone rear-ended the car and launched the two passengers in the blue sedan into the airbags.

Dazed from the impact, Schoden did not see two men get out of the offending vehicle and walk up to his car.

Just as he was starting to regain his focus, he felt something metal stick to his neck before 50,000 volts coursed through his body and the world went dark.

* * *

 _Tristain_

With the plane fully unloaded and the mood running surprisingly high, dinner that evening had been louder than usual.

Despite the lifted spirits, the passengers and nobles had still sat apart. The conversations on the passengers' side of the hall had consisted mainly of all the amazing things they'd seen during the day, while the conversation on the nobles' side was one of mainly curiosity for the commoners that had taken over their Academy. Some of the more traditional students held these loud commoners with contempt, though they knew better than to openly say as much, or risk the Headmaster's wrath.

Victor had gone upstairs after dinner to change into his nightclothes when he remembered he still had to speak with Tiffania. Mentally sighing, he threw on a fresh shirt, bracing himself for an uncomfortable conversation.

* * *

Tiffania was in the midst of planning her lessons for the upcoming week when she heard a knock on her door.

" _Tiffania? It's Victor."_

"Come in."

Her familiar stepped into the room closing the door behind her.

Victor took in his Summoner's room. It was similar to his, although it obviously had a bit of the elf's personal touch. A small pantry held a few bottles of wine and a large desk dominated the right wall. It was at this desk that he found Tiffania.

"Thank you for coming. I was hoping to speak to you about our situation now that things have cooled down a bit" she began.

"Yeah, about that… I'm uh, sorry about last night" admitted Victor. "It was rude of me. But I hope you can understand why I was upset."

Tiffania nodded. "It was a bad situation. One I wouldn't wish upon anyone. But thank you. I know it's selfish but thank you for agreeing. The alternative, at least for me, would have been… Well… I hope we can at least be cordial to each other."

"That shouldn't be an issue. Last night was just… Look… Sometimes, when I get mad, I turn into a bit of an asshole…"

 _I can't believe I'm semi-quoting Guardians of the Galaxy here_ Victor thought internally.

"...but I'm not a dick 100% of the time" he finished.

Tiffania digested this information for a moment before replying.

"A dick?"

Victor held his deadpan expression for just a moment before he let out a chortle and a brief chuckle.

"What?" asked Tiffania, still confused.

"It's an expression" replied Victor, still chuckling. "Being a dick means… Pretty much doing something bad to someone just because you can… If I were to shove you in the hallway for no reason, I'd be acting like a dick."

Tiffania chuckled at this crude description. "I see" she said. Even with a translation spell having been cast on the passengers earlier, she could tell he was speaking the same language as her. However, she had to admit her Familiar had a most peculiar accent and vocabulary. If there was a way to describe it, she would have to go with brutish, almost vulgar. Though it wasn't necessarily a bad thing; the dialect felt almost like a cousin of her own language.

Many of the passengers had similarly bizarre accents, even if they were all speaking Albionese. Though on several occasions, when she'd inquired about their accents, they all insisted they were speaking something called "English".

"So, Tiffania, I apologize for acting like a dick last night" finished Victor.

Tiffania smiled. "All is forgiven, Victor. You were understandably upset. I hope we can have a cordial relationship at the very least. And please, call me Tiffa." Seeing the conversation moving in a good direction, she decided now was as good a time as any to bring up the reason for their meeting.

"Now, as for why I called asked to meet with you", she began "you are no doubt aware we must journey to Romalia in a month's time."

"So I hear" replied Victor. "Some sort of gathering of Void mages? Saito mentioned as much."

"Yes, the Pope has called a gathering of the Void mages in the Romalian capital. Therefore, we must present a unified front in that regard."

"We gotta be on the same page, huh? So what's the plan?"

"As unintended as it may be, I am your Summoner and you are my Familiar. We'll have to act like it when we're in Romalia. While we are here though, you'll not be a servant or a slave. I'll have none of that" said Tiffania, bringing out her inner teacher for a moment. "No calling me Master or Mistress. All I ask is you treat me as you would any other person. You are free go where you wish and do what you please. When it comes to me, you'd be a colleague, a partner even. If that is agreeable?"

Victor nodded. "That sounds agreeable. I still feel bad about last night, so if there's something I can help with, let me know. It'll give me something to do around here."

Tiffa smiled. "Good. I am grateful for that. And I am glad we could reach an accord."

Victor gave a slight smile.

"Well, it's late. And my internal clock is still about seven hours behind" he said, turning to leave. "I'll see you around, then."

Tiffa nodded. "Good night Victor"

"Good night" he replied.

"And Tiffa…" he said, turning to look at her before stepping out of the room.

"Call me Vic."

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _Undisclosed Location_

Schoden struggled to open his eyes. His whole body was stiff from the Taser as he rolled his neck. He tried moving his arms, only to find they were handcuffed to the chair he was sitting in.

His breathing quickened as his eyes popped wide open. Taking in his surroundings, he saw he was in a dark warehouse.

A light illuminated his seat but the rest of the room was dark. It was then he noticed the Russian was sitting next to him, in a similar state. Except his head was covered by a hood and he seemed strangely calm considering the situation.

"Agent Schoden, you disappoint me" said a voice. A voice anyone who's worked in SWORD would recognize.

Into the light walked Agent Michael Owens, head of SWORD's counterintelligence teams. A tall, muscular, red-headed Irishman, he had a neutral, almost boring look on his face. However, a trained observer like Schoden could see the underlying rage beneath the boring façade.

"You know, we didn't mind your little gambling problem. Yes, we knew all about that. Your boss put in a good word on your behalf but personally, I wanted to bring you in the moment you went anywhere near that loan shark…"

He paused for effect before continuing.

"And now, instead of coming to us for help, you betrayed your oath."

Schoden was sweating bullets now, on the verge of tears.

"I had no choice! They came to my apartment. Put a gun in my mouth. Said they'd shoot my fingers off one by one if I didn't pay. Please! You must understand!" he sobbed, earning a punch to the face courtesy of Owens' fist.

The Irishman was struggling to rein in his anger. He was one of the few in SWORD who truly understood how their decisions affected those in Avalon. He understood that if word of Avalon got to the wrong hands, the consequences could be disastrous for the natives. That thinking was part of the reason Reynolds trusted him with these kinds of missions.

"Was it worth it? Was everything you nearly compromised… Everything you almost put in jeopardy! Was it worth it? For this?"

Stealing a glance at the hooded and gagged Russian, Owens kneeled down to Schoden's eye level.

"You're lucky the Boss isn't completely heartless. Personally, I think we should make an example of you. But… We still have a few questions for you and your friend. One way or another, Schoden, you and your GRU friend WILL tell us everything we want to know."

Lighting a cigarette, Owens continued.

"So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Schoden gulped as he glanced at the Russian, who was being dragged away to another area of the warehouse.

* * *

 **Alright, I'll be the first to admit this chapter is pretty much all over the place. I've started and stopped writing this chapter too many times in the past three months. However, I'm trying to stick to the outline I defined in my storyboard.**

 **WAIT! Before you close out this tab, I know this probably gets old but reviews bring up things I might want to put in or remove from the story. They bring up any mistakes I may have made. Short story, REVIEWS ARE HELPFUL! I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.**


	8. Will Science For Food

**SHIT! IT'S CHAPTER 8? AFTER ALL THIS TIME?**

 **Yes, I realize I took FOREVER to write this. I got major writers' block for a while, plus an increasingly dissatisfying work life (fed up almost to the point where I wrote a resignation letter) and an increasingly wacky election season (I work in politics… Until the election… NEVER working in politics again).**

 **Fringe fans! Keep an eye out for a rather amusing scene from the show I decided to incorporate (reminder that this story draws on several themes from Fringe without actually being a crossover)**

 **Review time:**

 **Reishin Amara: Yeah, honestly, as far as this story is concerned, the Church was actually starting to get it right, and then Sforza had come in and ruin everything**

 **Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Miller: That they do, although, cryptic hint, they'll eventually have bigger problems than that (hehehehehe)**

 **Pinkpower: Thank you for pointing that out. The FSB has been changed to GRU. As for them being tough to take down, oh, I have no doubt. But SWORD aren't exactly slackers either. They constitute the best of the best from all the countries that are part of SWORD. Plus they got lucky in this case. I'll explain in this chapter just how SWORD Spec-Ops managed to catch him.**

 **MayAnny: Oh don't worry, Victor and the other passengers will eventually set them straight on how shitty our world can be**

 **Gak237: Thanks for pointing that out. Like I mentioned in my PM, I went ahead and fixed that. As for the agents, they'll get a bit more depth this chapter, but not much. I realize it wasn't my best chapter (serves me right for writing on and off for three months)**

 **Bob the Turtle: We'll see what happens**

 **Ridli Scott: Lol not quite… We'll get to Mundalfr eventually… And yes, by the time I'm done, Saito, Louise, and Tiffania will be missing the days where it was just them against a giant Void-eating dragon.**

 **Chris4th: Thanks! I'd watched The Borgias when I started rewriting the story and I figured using Borgia would be too obvious**

 **Ospery: Eh, I'm not sure if I can describe the interrogation since these guys are NATO, hence they can't get too extreme. They have other tricks up their sleeve though. But the main focus of this story is Halkeginia.**

 **Otaku Prince: Thank you! Glad I inspired you**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _SWORD HQ_

 _The Next Morning_

 _2 Days After Arrival_

Morning broke over Brussels as the wave of analysts, agents, and researchers flooded into the SWORD HQ deep under NATO's Headquarters in Brussel. However, one agent was already there.

Reynolds rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if to stave off the inevitable headache of what he had to deal with today.

He'd stayed in all night, sleeping in his office and keeping tabs on the… situation with the foreign agent they'd somehow captured.

They'd lucked out… The guy was an older fellow, most likely a GRU liaison attached to the Russian Embassy in Brussels, though he have to wait to confirm that until Owens came in.

 _Damn Russians_ he thought.

He was anxious to find out how much they knew, if anything. He had his theories.

The most likely scenario was that the Russians were aware of the Anomalies, but did not know what they were or where they were coming from. They had likely connected the dots between Anomalies in Europe and the immediate deployment of SWORD agents to the site and were trying to find out more.

Thinking of the Anomalies, Reynolds sighed. They were getting worse. Two reports from the previous day alone. A damaging lightning storm in Copenhagen and a 5 minute snow storm in Rio de Janeiro had both been attributed to Anomalies. Of course, SWORD had taken control of the PR game and even now, news outlets around the world continued to attribute the strange weather activity to an unseasonably strong El Niño. Still, that made 12 confirmed events this month alone, up from an average of 3 per month the year before. And he had another problem. The Anomalies weren't the only thing sending his agents scurrying around the continent.

In the early days, long before SWORD even existed, the very thing that ultimately led to the discovery of Avalon was the persistent reports of people developing supernatural abilities such as pyrokinesis and electrokinesis during solar eclipses. Although the US Army Intelligence Task Force that had investigated these cases had ultimately refocused its efforts once Avalon was discovered, they continued to persist nonetheless.

Now there were, with increasing frequency, cases where people would develop these powers and retain them long past the end of the eclipses. They would still lose their "powers" eventually and the events could be passed off as a loose wire, minor gas leak, or freak accident. However, the time these individuals retained their "powers" was increasing. During the last eclipse, three months prior, one individual had been reported to retain his powers for four days.

SWORD had tried time and time again to have these individuals to come in to answer some questions and run some tests but by the time contact was made, their powers were gone. Regardless, one would have to be blind not to see the connection between the increasing Anomalies and the uptick in reports of people with paranormal abilities after eclipses.

Which led to a difficult decision he'd made the night before regarding the very man responsible for SWORD's existence:

Dr Dreyfus.

The disappearance of Dr. Scott in 1998 had a profound and detrimental effect on Dr. Dreyfus. The man was already known as being a bit eccentric and odd prior to the event. Afterwards, it seemed like something snapped in him. He became nearly impossible to work with before abruptly disappearing into civilian life. Last he'd heard, the man had been recently released from a mental institution, having been committed after nearly killing an assistant in a lab explosion.

And now, he was likely the only one on Earth who could possibly piece everything together, from the increasing Anomalies to the paranormal abilities popping up. SWORD had its theories, but that's all they were.

His thoughts were interrupted as Agent Owens walked into his office followed by Agent Anna Carlisle. Carlisle was a relatively new transfer from the States, but she had proven herself an exemplary agent. She'd been part of the team that gnabbed the GRU agent the night before and Owens. However, he'd called her into his office for a different reason.

"Agents" he greeted them. "Thank you for coming. Carlisle, I have something for you after I'm done with Owens, but feel free to stay for this since it concerns you as well."

"Yes sir" she replied, nodding.

"Concerning last night, your report Owens."

Owens took a moment to relax before he began.

"Per your orders last night, we formed two quick action teams and had one deploy to Schoden's apartment while we searched for him in the city. Once we determined he was on the move, we had them tail him while the apartment team prepared the warehouse for questioning. As we suspected, Schoden was indeed in contact with an employee of the Russian Embassy in Brussels. One of their senior security attachés, now confirmed to be a former GRU agent. This individual offered Schoden protection from a local loan shark in exchange for information. At least that's what we picked up from when the deal was happening."

Reynolds' mind churned as he absorbed Owens report. GRU agents were notoriously difficult to catch in the act, let alone question.

"You caught them in the act? How did we get so lucky?" he asked.

"I saw a deal taking place so I stopped it before it happened…" replied Owens vaguely.

Carlisle gave Owens a "really" look, eyebrow raised.

"You rear-ended their car in the middle of the Mont des Arts" she said, always trying to find an excuse to give her CO a hard time.

…

"You rear-ended the car…" said Reynolds, deadpan.

Owens merely shrugged while Carlisle merely rolled her eyes, giggling internally.

"You know, when I gave you full operational discretion, this wasn't what I meant Owens… Still, I can't argue with results" said Reynolds. His expression getting serious, he continued. "What did you get out of them?"

"Schoden sang like a bloody canary once the proper leverage was applied" continued Owens. "Said the Russian had approached him after 'hearing of his debt problems'. Offered him a deal: Information on why NATO teams were being sent out across the continent so frequently and anything else that might prove useful. We caught them just in time too. That USB drive contained files on Avalon and the Anomalies."

Reynolds felt a chill go down his spine as he listened. _So I was right after all. They knew something was up but not what. This was too close of a call though._

"What about the Russian? Get anything out of him?"

Owens shook his head. "He's good, even for an older gent. Definitely ex-GRU, maybe even former Spetsnaz. We haven't gotten anything out of him. Despite that, he's said absolutely nothing. My agents are getting frustrated."

Reynolds leaned forward, sighing.

"Owens, try to get him to talk. Look into his records, any family, anything we can use to put pressure on him. Find a carrot that'll get him to talk. Otherwise, I'll have to have you use… other methods."

Owens nodded, immediately understanding what Reynolds meant.

"Yes sir."

"Alright Owens, get back to it. Dismissed."

Owens nodded as he moved to leave the office.

Reynolds now turned to Agent Carlisle, who had remained standing throughout the discussion.

"Thanks for waiting, Carlisle. Please sit down."

Reynolds tried to think of the best way to explain his plan as Carlisle moved to sit down.

"There's a reason I asked for you specifically, Carlisle" he began. "Owens tells me you're one of the best agents under his command."

Carlisle smiled at the praise. Seeing no objection, Reynolds continued.

"I'm putting together a hybrid science/field team. And I want you to head it."

Carlisle practically giggled, though she maintained her composure. _My own team?_ She'd been head of her team back in the States before being brought to SWORD. Unfortunately, that meant she'd been bumped back down to grunt status and had struggled to get back up to where she'd been before.

"Umm wow that's… Thank you sir… I won't let you down."

"Good. First, I need you Stateside to pick up your chief scientist and a potential advisor to the team."

"Who am I picking up?" she asked.

"Take a look" he said passing the first file to Carlisle. "Alexander Dreyfus. Degrees in Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering. Taught at Princeton for 2 years. Now he works as a Federal Contractor in Virginia."

Carlisle let out a whistle at the guy's impressive credentials. Though the name rang a bell for some reason.

"But the real prize is his father, one Dr. Robert Dreyfus" continued Reynolds, passing along Robert's file. "Doctorates in Biochemistry, Physics, and Biology, the man is a certifiable genius with an IQ of 196."

Carlisle immediately recognized where she'd heard the name before. Robert Dreyfus had been a well known researcher and one of the smartest minds in past 30 years, though much of his work had been shrouded in secrecy until Carlisle had come to work for SWORD.

"Dr. Robert Dreyfus, one of the men who discovered Avalon? Isn't he locked up in the loony bin?"

"The very same" replied Reynolds. "He was released recently into the care of his son, Alexander. Though from what I hear, their relationship is rather frosty to say the least."

"I don't know about this one boss. He was locked up for a reason."

"Look Carlisle, we're poking around in the dark here with these anomalies. This whole thing is one big puzzle and we're missing most of the pieces. And Dreyfus is the only one I know of that might know what those pieces look like."

Carlisle wasn't fully convinced. If she was going to head a team, she needed everyone on their A game. 10 years in the slam changes a person.

"While I can't argue with his intellect, the man blew up a lab and nearly killed an assistant. He spent ten years in the loony bin. There's no telling what kind of mental state he's in or even if he'll be able or want to help."

"Dreyfus is the only person who might give us some answers. Dr. Nathan Scott is gone. Disappeared. Either hiding out in Costa Rica or dead… Probably both" he explained. "I have enough on my plate with all these goddamn Anomalies AND people getting goddamned superpowers AND the goddamned Russians snooping around. Find a way to convince him and his son. I need someone with the scientific background to put this puzzle together. A puzzle Dreyfus helped discover in the first place" finished Reynolds.

"With all due respect sir, no need for any more puzzle analogies. I understand" replied Carlisle.

"Good. Pack your bags and report to the airport at 1400 hours. There'll be a plane waiting for you. Wheels up at 1430."

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed."

* * *

 _Tristain Academy of Magic_

 _2 Days After Arrival_

Victor rubbed his head as he stared at the mirror in his bathroom. There had been no strange dreams the night before, but he had once more woken up feeling hot, almost as if he was on fire.

And the headache…

 _Fuck me sideways, someone get me some Advil and a coffee_ he thought, clutching his head.

It felt like a combination hangover/caffeine headache but it throbbed constantly. Looking back into the mirror, he gazed at the eerily glowing runes on his chest. He could feel both sets of runes pulsing, almost in tandem with his headache.

 _These things have done nothing but glow and give me a mega headache…_

As he thought that, he thought he heard a whisper, barely audible.

 _ **... submit….**_

 **You must resist...**

The whispers came from behind him and yet it almost felt like they were inside his head. It almost sounded like two distinct voices.

Poking his head back out into his room, he saw no one. _Weird…_ he thought. The runes still shined, bright as ever as he slipped on his shirt and headed downstairs.

His thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Tiffania, feeling his chest runes pulse at the thought.

In hindsight, he felt alright taking the high road and not holding a grudge for what happened but at the same time, he felt like he should have still been angry.

Why'd she have to be blonde AND cute? Reminds me too much of Erin…

 _Erin… Damn… Where did I go wrong there?_ he wondered, faintly feeling his chest burn.

Erin Hayes had, for a time at least, been the one bright spot in his life in recent months. After sulking for months following his parents' death, he'd been dragged out to the bars where he'd met a quirky graduate with a taste for random road trips and a penchant for saying whatever was on her mind.

Needless to say, Victor and Erin had hit it off right away. Right away meaning they'd woken up naked in bed together after a night of drunken shenanigans around the city.

Over the next two months, he'd finally gotten over his parents and back on his feet as he hung out with Erin more and more. Despite both their busy schedules, they both made time to see each other.

All that had come to a screeching halt after Erin had gone home to Colorado for two weeks. He'd planned on telling her he felt like they might be going somewhere when she returned.

Only she hadn't exactly felt the same way.

He vaguely remembered a quote from a movie that had summed up his situation.

" _Funny how they always want to be friends after they rip your guts out."_

 _Ain't that the truth._

Victor let his thoughts wander as he made his way down to the Dining Hall. Despite the downsides, there was one positive of being stuck in Halkeginia:

 _No early mornings for work_ he thought. His job as an associate consultant, although rewarding, often meant he had to work his ass off doing mostly grunt work. Or as his colleagues affectionately called it, "bitch work".

 _Whether I keep that job when I get back is another thing though_.

Coming down the spiral staircase, he ran into none other than Agent Hansen, who looked like a man on a mission.

"Victor" greeted the Australian agent.

"Jim. You look like hell" replied Victor.

"You could say that mate. Didn't sleep too well last night."

"That sucks" said Victor as they walked down the stairs. "Cup of coffee will fix you right… Oh…" he stopped himself, immediately remembering the lack of coffee.

"Yep. I can already feel a caffeine headache coming" said Hansen, rolling his eyes.

"Believe me, I feel you" replied Victor, remembering his own pulsing headache. "So… What's going on today?"

"We find out what Earth has to say about our situation. Then, hopefully get some sort of organization between us passengers. You know, present a united front and all that."

"Like some sort of group meeting?"

"Yea… Just to be on the same page and all that. We need to be sure our needs are represented to the locals."

The conversation continued before Hansen split off from Victor as he walked into the dining hall. He had to find Captain Rollins.

* * *

Colbert sat at the head table in the dining hall watching everyone file in for breakfast. He had barely touched his own plate, his thoughts stirring.

Marteau had just delivered some concerning news: with the addition of 120+ people to feed, they might have to dig into their winter stores to feed everyone comfortably. Depending on how long the passengers were here, he would have to requisition more frequent resupplies from the Crown and that of course would take a bite into the Academy's allotted budget for the following year. Not to mention, it would upset the surrounding fiefdoms from which the supplies came. Unless the Crown dug into its reserves, something it would certainly not do without good reason.

Looking over the dining room, he looked for Agent Hansen in order to meet with him and deliver the news. He quickly found the Australian sitting next to the plane's captain, engaged in a rather animated conversation.

Regarding the food situation, it would all depend on how long they needed to sustain their increased levels of consumption. They could handle a month without digging too much into the Academy's stores. Anything beyond that would be hard to sustain, and would most likely result in rationing for the passengers.

Colbert hated this dilemma. On the one hand, he wanted to do the right thing and help. However, he had a responsibility to his students and staff first.

Steeling his resolve, he made his way over to the two Earthlings in question.

He could hear the conversation as he approached the table.

"...still don't think I would be the best person to be the 'leader' of our merry band" commented Rollins.

"You got us through the mess that was the transition, the landing, and the first day, mate. I think you have the most leadership experience of any of us" replied Hansen.

"I still say you're the best qualified. You know more about this place than any of us" said Rollins.

"I think the best bet would be to put it to a vote" finished Hansen.

"Right. Now, all we need is a lecture room big enough to hold all of us. I figure it's better to tell everyone rather than letting the rumor mill make its rounds once we know how long we're stuck here. Where are you on that, by the way?"

"Contact's at 1100 Zulu, little more than an hour. We'll know then…" finished Hansen, noticing Colbert walking towards them. "Headmaster. What brings you to our humble little corner?"

"Good morning gentlemen. I'm afraid I'm here for less than a cordial visit. But I feel our business may be better discussed in the privacy of my office" said Colbert. A serious look came over the two Australians' faces. "I could not help but overhear that you will be taking charge of the passengers, Captain Rollins. This will help in our business, as this news may sound better coming from you."

"Not sure about that bit yet. We're planning on putting it to a vote between the passengers. Speaking of which, is there an empty lecture hall we may use to hold a meeting between all of us?"

"I can arrange for your people to use one this afternoon" replied Colbert.

"Sounds good" said Hansen. "Shall we then?"

The three men left the dining room, heading for the Headmaster's office.

The walk to the Headmaster's office was filled mostly with small-talk. Once the doors closed however, Colbert steeled himself and put on his Headmaster's facade.

"Gentlemen, I've received some rather troubling news from our Head Chef, Marteau" he began. "He tells me with the addition of more than one-hundred people to feed, our food supplies are being stretched thin."

The two Australians looked at each other with concern. Rollins was the first to speak.

"How thin?" he asked.

"At the current rate, we'll be forced to introduce rationing within a month. I intend to ask the surrounding fiefdoms for more but with Winter coming, they will be hesitant to send much more. The Crown may not be a better answer either as we are over-budget this year."

Hansen looked at his watch, then leaned back. "Well, we'll know for sure how long we'll be stuck here in about half an hour. We'll open the portal here so you're the first to know."

Rollins stood up and walked to the window. Looking out, he could see some of the passengers milling about. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"You say your Queen is not willing to send more food because you're over budget, yes?"

Colbert nodded.

"What if we were to provide something to your Queen?" asked Rollins.

"What did you have in mind, Captain?" retorted Colbert.

"Scientific knowledge from our world."

Colbert's eyebrows shot up. This could be the break he'd been looking for! His own research into the technologies from Earth had stalled with the loss of contact. He'd been on the verge of a breakthrough into combustion engines, although his priority had been to expand on the rudimentary steam engines he'd designed for the Ostland. The team that had designed the legendary ship was back in Germania, and with his current responsibilities as the Headmaster, he'd had no time to coordinate his next big project with them.

"Yes, yes! That might work! If I can demonstrate significant progress with some of my inventions, I could possibly renegotiate more food from the Capital!" he said excitedly.

Hansen's reaction on the other hand was not so positive.. "Hold on there mate! Have you lost your mind?"

"What choice do we have? You heard him, if we're here for more than a month, we'll be starving by the time we can leave. We don't have to give them much, just enough to point them in the right direction?" replied Rollins.

Hansen remained adamant, shaking his head as Colbert stood by, watching the two men argue.

"This is not your call to make, nor mine. I have to run this by SWORD. If we start meddling too much with these people, who knows what will happen!"

"Hansen, again, it can just be a suggestion here or there. Hell, there are doctors on the passenger list. We can stick to just medical advice like 'wash your hands before doing anything' or 'sterilize your medical tools'."

Hansen seemed to back down, but remained steadfast.

"I can't argue with that angle Captain, but our own history has proven that advancing technology without letting society catch up can be disastrous" he explained. "If you doubt that, you need look no further than the Conquest of the Americas, or the First World War."

Rollins had no retort as he remembered his lessons on history. Colbert on the other hand had an expression of mixed confusion, shock, and horror at that statement.

 _First World War? Is such a thing possible? And use of the word First… Can such a thing happen more than once?_

"First World War?" he asked timidly.

The question drew the gaze of the Australians. Hansen sighed before he began explaining.

"Yes, Headmaster. The First World War. A large-scale conflict on our world fought mostly on the continent analogous to Halkeginia nearly a hundred years ago at a time of political turmoil and tumultuous alliances. The perfect example of what happens when battlefield tactics do not keep pace with advancements in technology ."

Racking his brain for the statistics, he continued.

"You remember the machine guns on the Zero fighter right? How fast they can fire?"

Colbert nodded.

"Well, at the start of the First World War, those had just been introduced. But the battlefield tactics remained the same from a hundred years prior. As a result, you had massive infantry charges of tens of thousands of men running into machine guns that literally tore them to pieces by the battalion" continued Hansen. "Obviously, there's a lot more to the war than just that but I rest my case. I don't remember the exact casualty figures for the War but it was somewhere over 17 million people dead."

Colbert felt a chill go down his spine in horror.

 _17 million?!_

"Second World War was even worse" added Rollins, begrudgingly. "That one was truly a world war, spanning nearly every continent and ocean of the world. Over 60 million dead… Truly the war to end all wars. There hasn't been one since that comes close the that kind of devastation."

Colbert's knees grew weak.

 _60 million… That's more than the twice the population of Halkeginia… How? How can one war be so deadly?_

"Lord Hiraga told me when he first came here that his world was at peace. That there had been wars in the past but that you all lived in relatively peaceful times" said Colbert, desperately coming to terms with this new information.

"Well he's not wrong. Second World War was over 70 years ago. Hell, our own Australia fought against his Japan in the Pacific Ocean" explained Hansen. "There have been wars since but nothing on the scale of those two. Make no mistake Headmaster, our world is no picnic. There are smaller scale wars raging all over to this day, people dying every day. But the majority of the population lives in peace."

"But back to my argument, I feel that any sort of technology or knowledge that we give you must be discussed with both my superiors back home and with experts on that sort of thing. Just to be sure your people have time to adapt. Captain, you know the passenger manifest… You know anyone with any special expertise that might be useful? You mentioned doctors."

Captain Rollins nodded.

"Yes, I know for a fact there are a few doctors on board. There's bound to be more people with specialized knowledge among the passengers."

"Any sort of knowledge or expertise would go a long way to convincing the Crown to send more supplies. And of course, I would be eternally grateful. I have wanted to study the wonders of your world ever since Lord Hiraga arrived" said Colbert.

"We'll see what we can do" retorted Hansen. "In the meantime, it's almost time Headmaster. Could we get Louise and Tiffania up here? If we want an answer today, we'll have to portal more than just once today."

* * *

Elsewhere in the Academy, Louise, Tiffania, and their respective familiars Saito and Victor, walked up the stairs through the main tower. The two Void mages had just been summoned to the Headmaster's office, presumably to open the portal to Earth once more.

As they walked, two different conversations were taking place.

"I'm not sure I can do this, Louise" admitted Tiffania.

"You'll do fine! Just like we practiced. You've seen the room I open the portal to. Just focus on the destination and chant" replied Louise.

The two Void mages had been, for the past few months been teaching each other their respective Void spells whenever they saw each other. Tiffania had made great progress in casting _Explosion_ , _Dispel_ , and _Haste_. Louise on the other hand pretty much had _Haste_ and _Scrying_ down, but was struggling with Tiffania's signature spell, _Mind Wipe_. _Teleport_ was the one spell that eluded them both, despite how hard they both struggled to focus.

Tiffania still struggled with _World Door_. She still had concerns about the sheer amount of power required to cast _World Door_. Louise had previously only been able to cast it with Saito's help when he was Lífþrasir but could now cast it effortlessly with plenty of willpower to spare. Tiffania's willpower reserves, on the other hand, were not nearly as high. She could cast it however it left her severely drained afterwards. The incident with the summoning that had left her nearly completely drained had also traumatized her.

"I know how to do it Louise… I'm worried I don't have enough power to do it though"

Louise shrugged her shoulders. "You could always ask Victor to give you a hand" she said, gesturing to the two familiars who followed behind them, engaged in their own conversation.

Tiffania glanced at her familiar. She felt guilty asking him to give her some extra willpower but it would be a good chance to solidify their partnership as summoner and _Lífþrasir_. Looking back at him, she couldn't quite figure out what they were talking about, even with her enhanced Elven hearing.

"...been a few months since I've heard anything from home" Saito told Victor, the two following behind their summoners on the way to Colbert's office.

"Yeah, well not much has changed" replied Victor. "Ice caps are still melting. Wars in the Middle-East are getting worse. I don't know man, rich are getting richer, poor are getting poorer… China's thinking they're the biggest kids in your neighborhood, North Korea's getting crazier, you know… Same shit as last year…"

"That sounds…"

"It sucks, I know" finished Victor.

The four reached Colbert's office and made their way in, noticing the Headmaster chatting with Agent Hansen and Captain Rollins.

"Ah, you're here. You're just in time" greeted Colbert. "Agent Hansen tells me it's almost time to make contact with Earth."

"Well, we're ready for it" replied Louise. "Although I feel like we should give Tiffania a chance to open the portal this time" she said, nudging Tiffania, who stepped up, nervous but determined.

"Appreciate it. Although this time is a bit different. Because of some troubling news that the Headmaster has brought up, we'll need to portal a few times. We need these answers today" explained Hansen. "Are you two up to it?"

Tiffania and Louise both nodded.

"I have enough in me to open a portal, maybe two if I still have enough willpower left" said Louise.

"Unfortunately I will likely only be able to open one portal" added Tiffania, reluctantly.

Hansen seemed to ponder this, before turning to Victor.

"Victor, you ready to put those new powers of yours to the test?" he asked the Spaniard.

"Wait you mean use the _Lífþrasir_?" asked Victor. Hansen nodded in response. "I mean, sure if you really need it. But I'm not even sure I know how to do that. I must have slept through that lecture" replied Victor sheepishly.

Saito gave him a playful nudge on the his shoulder. "Just put your arm on Tiffa's shoulder as she's chanting and focus on the runes."

"Good. Because our situation is this" Hansen explained. "The Academy does not have enough food to sustain us for more than a month. Now, a possible solution being floated is to exchange scientific knowledge from Earth for additional food. But… This is something that needs to be cleared with Earth. One of our Prime Directives is non-involvement in Halkeginia. So we can't be introducing knowledge and technology that affects the locals here too much."

As Hansen finished his explanation, his watch went off, signaling that it was almost 1100 Zulu.

"Alright, it's almost time. Louise, you're up first" he said.

Louise nodded and prepared herself.

The instant Hansen's watch read 1100 Zulu, Louise began chanting.

Victor watched as the same unstable portal from the day before began forming just off Louise's wand.

Finally, it stabilized into the gray basement of the transport room for two seconds, before the location shown inside began jumping around Brussels. All the while, Hansen focused on his phone, waiting for the familiar notification of a new email to ring.

A minute passed and the portal continued to spark and flash with each new location, the dangerous energies present in the void between worlds sending sparks into the Headmaster's Office. A few hit a chair in front of the desk, shattering it and sending splinters flying everywhere.

(Ding)

"Got it!" yelled Hansen, glancing at Louise who cut the spell immediately. She wavered a bit as the continued use of willpower made its toll known.

"Let's see…"

Having already established a secure line of communication, the email was already decrypted. The message was brief, so as to decrease the file size.

 _Well done. Continue cooperation. Next eclipse in 65 days. Will get eclipse location on Avalon ASAP. Working on better comms. Try to respond to this ASAP. If not, expect contact at 1100 Zulu tomorrow. Find source of Anomalies. Stay safe._

Hansen sighed heavily.

"Two months. The next eclipse is in little over two months" said Hansen, breaking the silence that had built up.

Colbert sighed as well.

"That could be a problem" he commented.

* * *

 _SWORD HQ_

 _Brussels_

Reynolds looked at the white-coats and department heads gathered before him. While Comms upstairs was busy sending the message through the portal, he'd called together a meeting to discuss a means to communicate with the passengers without having to rely on the unstable portals. The head of logistics had mentioned they might have a solution.

"Alright folks. What do you have?" he barked.

"Well, boss, it's better than nothing. But basically, you can't send anything too delicate through because the portals are unstable, right? There's exotic energies and crazy particles we can't even identify flowing between the two. Plus you don't know if they'll stay in place for 3, 5, or 10 seconds?"

"Yes, I'm well aware, Dr. Bayh."

"If we can find a way to get a Window Generator through the portal the instant it opens, before it destabilizes, we could communicate via written messages viewed from each others' sides."

"Run that by me again. Slowly" ordered Reynolds.

"Mobile 1 is already in position at the Academy's location on Earth, right? All we have to do is get a Window Generator to the other side, so they can see Mobile 1. Then if we have a message to get to them, get Mobile 1 to write it somewhere they can see it from their side! And if they have a message, they do the same so we can see it from our side!"

"That could work…" added another scientist.

"The trick would be getting the Window Generator and a power supply over to them through the brief moment the portal is stable" replied Dr. Bayh.

"I could rig up some sort of launcher set up in the Transport Room, ready to launch the rig the instant the portal opens" said yet another scientist in charge of logistics.

"So…" interrupted Reynolds, silencing the room. "The portal opens, we launch the Window Generator through the portal before it closes and hope they can set it up, yes?"

"That's pretty much it boss" replied Dr. Bayh.

Reynolds took a deep breath, thinking of any other options.

"It's the best we've got right now. Make it happen. Dismissed."

As the staff moved to leave, an aide ran up to Reynolds.

"Director! We've got another portal forming."

 _That quick?_ thought Reynolds.

* * *

 _Tristain Academy_

 _Headmaster's Office_

Tiffania focused as she channeled her willpower into forming the portal. She could feel her core exerting itself.

The portal began to form at the tip of her wand as she focused all her attention on that same, gray room that Louise always sent her portals to.

The portal finally materialized, sparking all the way. Tiffa struggled to maintain the connection though as the portal began jumping.

"Hurry!" she shouted at Hansen, who was waiting for confirmation that his message had been sent.

(SWOOSH)

"Done!"

Tiffania groaned as she cut the connection, nearly stumbling into the desk had it not been for someone catching her.

Looking up, she saw Victor, obviously concerned.

"You ok?" he asked.

Recomposing herself, she wavered a bit got back on her own two feet.

"Yes, I am now. Thank you. I just need to sit down."

* * *

 _Brussels_

 _SWORD HQ_

Reynolds re-read the message he'd just received from Hansen, trying to come up with an easy answer.

 _Message received. Food shortage imminent in 1 month. Willing to exchange scientific and medical knowledge on basics for additional food and resources. Please advise. Will portal in 1 hour._

If there really was an impending food shortage, Reynolds had to make sure the passengers weren't left behind. Colbert was a good man, sure, but he was loyal to his students, his staff, and his country first. And that scared Reynolds.

On the other hand, he had an ethical dilemma.

Reynolds knew with so many passengers, there were bound to be those with specialized knowledge on board, such as doctors, engineers, scientists, etc…

SWORD had, for lack of a better term, a prime directive not to interfere with Halkeginia or it's development. The policy, more of a guideline at first, had become a guiding principle after a nearly three-year study on Halkeginian conflicts over the past 200 years had definitively proven that gunpowder weapons, transported from Earth through the portals, had led to the discovery of gunpowder and successive proliferation of firearms in Halkeginia.

After that discovery, any further tampering with Halkeginian society had been prohibited. Reynold's dilemma now was if there were really concerns about food that could be solved by exchanging scientific knowledge, the problem was figuring out what could be disclosed that would not affect Halkeginia too dramatically.

On his desk were the recommendations made by the experts during the emergency meeting following the latest message. It was fairly conservative in terms of what could be offered without severely affecting Halkeginian society. The recommendations were mainly knowledge and topics that the Halkeginians would eventually discover within a few decades, in addition to some medical knowledge.

It would be up to Hansen to find passengers with knowledge on what he was approving and find a way to exchange that knowledge for additional supplies.

Reynolds glanced at the photographs he'd received from Mobile 1. These were the first recon photos of the Academy since Oceanic 29's arrival.

Despite the slight blurriness due to the way the errant photons from the other side were captured by the Window Generators, he could clearly see the plane intact on the Academy's runway. More pictures revealed the passengers in good health, no injuries visible.

Reynolds was glad Hansen had decided to be open with the passengers, rather than maintain SWORD's usual level of secrecy. He could see that despite all that had happened to them, the passengers were in good spirits. He even saw a game of soccer (football, he had to keep reminding himself he was in Europe) being played between some of the younger passengers.

Of course, the revelations made by Hansen to the passengers meant that when they did eventually return, it would be a veritable nightmare ensuring all 122 of them kept their mouths shut about SWORD, Avalon, and magic. At least until Public Disclosure was in the realm of possibility.

Reynolds looked forward to that happy day when SWORD wouldn't have to be so hush-hush. Until then, every little thing they did had to be backed up with a plausible, non-magic, non-paranormal explanation, something that drove him nuts.

Picking up the phone, he dialed his Comms Director on exactly what to say for the next outgoing message.

* * *

 _Tristain Academy_

 _Headmaster's Office_

Back in the Headmaster's Office, Tiffania and Louise sat, resting and eating to replenish their reserves.

Hansen's watch beeped, showing it was almost time for the next portal.

"Ladies" he asked the Void mages. "Think one of you can open up another portal? This should be the last one today."

Tiffania shook her head mid-bite. "I don't have much left. I don't think I can" she admitted, looking at Louise who was faring slightly better.

The pinkette stood, looking at Victor.

"I can do it. But I'll need help from Mr. De La Fuente" she said.

Victor said nothing but nodded.

Moving to stand next to Louise, he put his arm on her shoulder. "Alright, now what?" he asked.

"Once I begin chanting, just focus on the runes and let them do the rest" replied Louise.

Hansen's watch beeped again. "Alright, go!"

Louise began chanting and Victor focused on the runes. Almost immediately, he felt a tingle from his chest to his right arm. A slight pressure built up in his chest as he focused on the runes.

Louise's wand glowed with power as the portal formed rather quickly with the large supply of magic flowing to it. The unstable orb sparked violently, prompting the others to move behind Louise.

Though it was no more than a minute, the wait seemed to last an eternity as nothing indicated the message had come through. Victor felt himself getting winded and he felt Louise shaking from exertion.

 _If they don't find a way to maintain contact without relying on these portals, we're screwed. I don't think I can do this every day_ he thought.

(DING)

"Alright I got it!"

Louise cut the spell and Victor took his arm off her, feeling slightly light-headed. He moved to sit down as Hansen reviewed the message.

 _Message received. Topics approved for dissemination to Tristain:_

 _\- Printing Press :_ _Instructions on recommended assembly will be forthcoming tomorrow_

 _\- Medical Knowledge_

 _\- Steam and Combustion Engine Technology (ensure Colbert is aware of consequences of unrestricted CO2 emissions)_

 _\- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU TO DISSEMINATE WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY OF ANY SORT_

 _\- Further recommendations may be forthcoming after reliable communications have been established._

 _Solution has been found to communications issue. Portal tomorrow at 1100 Zulu_ _in an open clearing_ _. Expect a pod with Window Generator and portable power source at that time. END_

Hansen smiled at this news, prompting Colbert's eyes to light up.

"Well, I've got good news Professor. Earth is allowing us to share some of our knowledge in exchange for food" he told him.

The bald Headmaster smiled at this. "That is excellent news! I look forward to seeing what wonders we can accomplish together."

"Though it's not much for now, I feel it will be enough to pique the Crown's interest. They've approved three things that we may share for now: the printing press, recommendations in steam and combustion engines, and our medical knowledge."

Colbert's eyebrow shot up. He recognized the latter recommendations but the first one eluded him. "Printing press?" he asked

"Yes, that's something I'm surprised has yet to be discovered here" answered Hansen. "The printing press allows for books to be printed by the dozen instead of having to hand-write each one. This is arguably what allowed the widespread dissemination of knowledge on Earth. It led to many more people becoming literate and studying, thus leading to more discoveries and more advancements."

Colbert was practically drooling at this point. _This would let us make enough copies of books to ensure everyone had one! This could revolutionize learning in Halkeginia!_

"Be warned however, the printing press is a dangerous thing. Just as easily as the truth can be disseminated, so can lies."

"I understand" said Colbert, nodding. "Truth and knowledge can indeed be dangerous to those who hold power over others."

"You don't know the half of it. Back when the press was invented, monarchs and the nobility still ruled over much of Europe. Fast-forward 400 years later, with literacy widespread and a growing middle class, the nobility died out and the monarchies were in their death throes, being relegated to figureheads, symbolic heads of states, or replaced altogether with democratic governments" explained Hansen.

"Yes, I recall Lord Hiraga's explanation of how in your world, the nobility had all but died out save for a few ceremonial monarchs such as his Emperor" replied Colbert.

While Colbert, Rollins, and Hansen continued their discussions, Victor sat still recovering from using his power for the first time.

Then he heard it again.

 _ **You hold great power within you Lífþrasir. Power that will be well suited to serving your Master…**_

Shaking his head, he tried to figure out where the deep, authoritative voice was coming from before realizing the runes of the _Lífþrasir_ were pulsing.

Looking at Tiffania, he felt drawn to her.

 _She's cute… Whoa… Where did that come from? But really though…_

It was then that he felt his back warm, right where the other set of runes was. And then he heard the other voice, the gentler, warmer voice.

 _ **You must resist Lífþrasir. Focus on yourself. Know yourself.**_

The two voices seemed to overlap with each other, almost as if they were fighting against one another.

"Victor?"

Hearing his name brought him back to reality.

"Victor" asked Tiffania. "Are you alright?"

The sensations from both sets of runes faded as did the voices.

"Yeah… I'm fine" he replied after a few moments.

* * *

 _Later That Night_

Tiffania glared at the assignments in front of her.

 _This is the part of teaching I don't quite enjoy_ she thought to herself as she graded yet another mediocre assignment.

Her focus was shattered when someone banged on the door.

"Tiffania! It's Victor. We need to talk."

"Come in" she said, recomposing herself.

Victor strode in, closing the door behind him. He figured he'd cut right to the chase.

"The familiar runes. What exactly do they do? Besides being a magic reserve?"

Tiffania was puzzled by his question briefly before answering.

"I am almost certain that's all they are. Why?"

Victor shook his head, moving to sit down on Tiffa's bed.

"There's these voices… In my head… I thought it was just my imagination but they're definitely there. They just be whispers: 'submit', 'resist', 'give yourself to master' but they're there. God, it's like an annoying salesman, trying to get you to buy something."

Tiffania's blood grew cold.

 _No, this wasn't supposed to happen! Louise assured me that was only speculation! That it only applied to non-sentient familiars!_

"Tiffania?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Victor.

"This wasn't supposed to happen" she began, trying to diffuse any tension before she explained herself. "Normally, summoned familiars are wild animals, and thus when the contract is sealed, the runes bind the familiar to the mage's will."

"So they're basically slaves?" asked Victor, not liking where this was going.

"From a certain point a view, yes."

Victor took a deep breath before continuing.

"What does this have to do with the voices in my head?" he asked, dreading the answer.

Tiffa let out a sharp exhale, despairing at what she was about to say.

"I had assurances from Louise that this didn't happen to human familiars. I fear however, based on what you're telling me this may not be the case." She steeled herself for what she had to say.

"The runes essentially brainwash familiars to be loyal only to their summoners"

Victor felt a chill go down his spine. Brainwashing?

"So you're telling me these voices are trying to brainwash me?"

"I'm not certain. What exactly are you hearing?"

Taking a deep breath, Victor explained.

"After I used the power of the _Lífþrasir_ on Louise, I heard a voice whispering in my head. It said: ' _You hold great power within you Lífþrasir. Power that will be well suited to serving your Master'."_

Tiffania pondered this for a moment before Victor continued.

"Then I heard another voice… It was different from the first. Sounded like a woman. She said _'You must resist Lífþrasir. Focus on yourself. Know yourself.'_ To be honest, it felt like it came from the _Mundalfr_ runes."

Tiffania took a moment before answering.

"I honestly do not know what is going on, Victor. But I promise, I'm going to find out. I'll not have my familiar brainwashed nor his memories tampered with" she said resolutely.

Victor smiled a bit at his summoner's enthusiasm.

"I appreciate it" he told her.

Tiffa smiled before her teacher's voice kicked in. "Please come see me immediately if these voices start up again."

* * *

 _3 days after Arrival_

 _Earth_

 _Arlington, Virginia, USA_

" _...effects from the unusually strong El Niño continue to affect the West Coast, as the region enters its third year of drought. More on that coming up in the next half-hour. But first, some breaking news…"_

Alexander Dreyfus tuned out the news as he looked for his father, the ever eccentric Robert Dreyfus. With Robert having been in and out of his life growing up and later ending up locked up in the loony bin, it had been up to his late mother to raise the young Alex, something he held against his father. Having been forced to take his father in, as the man was unable to be independent while readjusting to life outside the madhouse, only added to Alex's contempt, to the point where he referred to him as Robert, rather than dad.

Still, he had to be sure the old man didn't blow himself up along with the entire house in yet another one of his experiments. Having taken over the family home when Robert had been locked away, the basement had still been set up with Robert's lab. As a result, when Robert had come back home to live with him, he'd immediately gotten back to using his lab.

Which was where Alex found himself heading as he descended the stairs to the basement.

Turning the corner from the stairs, he saw his father engaged in whatever it was that he was doing now.

"Brought you coffee, Robert" he told his father, setting the coffee down next to him. Robert paid him no mind as he focused on whatever he was working on.

Looking around the lab, Alex saw an uneaten omelette.

It was then that Robert turned around to see his son about to take a bite out of said omelette.

"Alex no!"

"Robert, we talked about sharing, remember?" said Alex, still cutting into the omelet.

"That's not to eat… Oh you've ruined it!"

"It's an omelette..."

"It's not an omelette!" replied Dreyfus, frustrated. Using the fork, he flipped the omelet open to reveal… what looked like a human ear growing in the omelet.

"Oh, my-ugh!" exclaimed Alex, nearly throwing up. "Robert, why is there an ear in the omelet?" he asked, recomposing himself.

"It was an experiment. It was a protein-rich incubator. It was growing" explained Dreyfus, as if stating the obvious.

Alex looked at his irritating father. "It was growing? That's perfect."

"No, it's not perfect. You just ruined it. And you could have died, had you eaten it."

Alex rolled his eyes, frustrated. Yey another day of dealing with Robert's eccentricities and borderline aversion to social norms.

"Really? You know, maybe in the future you could do me a favor and just put up a sign warning me not to confuse your toxic playthings with breakfast!" he said frustrated, butting heads with father.

"Maybe you should get your own breakfast and not poach mine!" retorted Dreyfus.

"That is hardly the point. Remember yesterday when I nearly washed my face in a sink full of acid? Or three days ago, you hooked the dog up to the solar panels and I nearly electrocuted myself!"

"This is my laboratory! You're the one who should be careful. I trust you look both ways when you cross the street!" said Dreyfus, trying to get a leg up on his son.

"Yeah, but the difference is that if I don't, I'm the only one who gets flattened!" yelled Alex. "You, Robert, you live in a society with other people! Also-"

Their argument was interrupted by the doorbell ringing from upstairs. Both men looked up before Alex moved towards the stairs.

"This conversation isn't over, Robert" he shouted as he ran upstairs.

Opening the front door, he came face to face with two people, whose outfits and demeanor screamed FBI.

"Alexander Dreyfus?" asked the blonde woman.

"Yeah that's me" replied Alex hesitantly.

"Anna Carlisle, Charlie Rosenthal, CIA. May we come in?"

 _Make that CIA_ thought Alex. Remembering his rights, he was hesitant to let in an CIA agent.

"Hold on. What's this about? Did Robert do something?"

Agent Carlisle smiled. "No… This is about a potential opportunity for you and your father, though it's something better discussed in private."

Alex pondered this. Robert had spent a great deal of time all over the world doing all kinds of secretive projects for the government. This could be related to one of them. Nodding, he motioned the agents inside.

"Make yourselves at home. I'll go get the old man."

A few minutes passed before Alex returned with Robert in tow and Carlisle got her first look at the man who had helped discover Avalon. Her concerns about the man still being affected by having been locked up for 10 years were definitely met. Dr. Dreyfus seemed aloof, as if his mind was in three different places at once.

"Alex, who are these people?" he asked.

"Anna Carlisle and Charlie Rosenthal, CIA. Good to finally meet you Dr. Dreyfus" said Agent Carlisle, shaking Robert's hand.

"So what's all this about" interrupted Alex.

"Now Alex, don't be rude. These young people are our guests" said Robert. "Would you two like some pudding?"

The two agents looked at each other as Alex rolled his eyes.

"Um, no thanks Doctor. We're actually here on official business" replied Carlisle, pulling out a folder. With the four of them sitting down in the living room, she removed a form from the folder and placed it in front of Alex.

"What's this?" he asked.

"The reason for our visit concerns information your father already possesses. In your case, this information is classified at the highest level. So, we'll need you to sign this non-disclosure agreement."

Alex, being a Federal contractor, was familiar with these agreements, but disliked them nonetheless.

"And if I say no?" he asked.

"Trust us, you'll want to say yes. But we can't say much more until you sign. We'll respect your decision on whether to accept our proposal but we need to ensure your discretion regardless" replied Rosenthal.

"What CAN you tell me then?"

"That this'll be worth your while. That this is the kind of work that can change the world. And that this opportunity comes with significant benefits" continued Rosenthal.

"The pay is good" added Carlisle.

"Very good."

Alex took a moment to read through the non-disclosure agreement. It was thorough… _Very thorough_ he thought, reading a particular paragraph.

"Alright… I see what you mean then" said Alex, thumbing through the agreement. "I listen to what you have to say, I say yes, perfect. I say no and blab, you have enough on me to bury me."

"Glad we understand each other Mr. Dreyfus" replied Rosenthal.

"Why not then" said Alex, signing the document.

"Excellent" said Carlisle. Putting the folder away and pulling out another. "Now, what do the two of you know of the Avalon Initiative?"

Alex was confused but Robert's eyebrows immediately shot up.

"Never heard of it" said Alex.

Robert on the other hand, looked at the table, deep in thought, closing his eyes as he spoke.

"That's because it was a project run at the utmost levels of discretion between several NATO countries" he said.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your touch Doctor" commented Carlisle.

"So what was it?" asked Alex.

"The Avalon Initiative and it's successor, the Sentient World Observation and Research Division, SWORD for short, is the international organization charged with observing and researching the parallel world of Avalon and its associated paranormal phenomena on Earth" said Carlisle, passing the second set of folders across the table.

"Parallel world?" asked Alex, picking up one of the folders.

Alex and Robert both spent the next several minutes thumbing through the folders the CIA agents had provided.

"My God… This is truly remarkable" said Robert. "You've actually made contact! This Saito Hiraga character sounds like he'd have quite the tale to tell."

"I'm still not convinced" added Alex. "I mean, another world, full of wizards and flying ships? It sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book."

"I can assure you Alex, I was equally stunned when Scotty and I discovered it. Quite astounding really."

"Scotty?" asked Agent Rosenthal.

"Dr. Nathan Scott" whispered Carlisle. "The other scientist who discovered Avalon."

"Back to the matter at hand" interrupted Alex. "You're here bringing this all up again why exactly?"

"Because over the past few years, we've had a dramatic increase in anomalies tied directly to Avalon. Freak lightning storms, massive die-offs, droughts, unexplained migrations, people developing magic powers, the works. All of these tied to Avalon. And we don't know why" explained Agent Rosenthal, gesturing to the TV and the news channel currently covering a freak lightning storm over Helsinki.

"You're the closest the world has to an expert on Avalon, Dr. Dreyfus" added Agent Carlisle. "We need your help to find out why these things keep happening. And Alex, you have expertise that would be well suited to our organization."

Father and son looked at each other in a rare moment of agreement before Alex spoke.

"What exactly would we be doing?" he asked.

"I'm putting together a special team: a hybrid science and field team. The two of you will work primarily in the SWORD research labs but will be deployed to the field when needed" replied Carlisle.

After a few more minutes of discussing specifics, the agents circled back to their proposal.

"So, gentlemen. What do you say?" asked Agent Rosenthal.

Alex took a moment before nodding.

"Well, this sounds infinitely more interesting than what I'm doing right now. I'm in."

Carlisle nodded then turned to Robert.

"Dr. Dreyfus?"

The elder Dreyfus looked away for a moment, then stood up and walked to the window, deep in thought.

"I left the Avalon Initiative after Scotty…" he tapered off. "Well, in any regard, I left it all behind because we were always a team, him and I. Always looking for the next challenge, the next riddle to solve. But now after ten years… I've realized that he would have wanted me to continue our work. And now, this new riddle comes along."

"So this means?" asked Agent Carlisle, hopeful.

"I'll accept your offer, Agent Carlisle" said Robert. "With some conditions."

"I'm sure we can find some come to some sort of understanding."

* * *

 _3 Days After Arrival_

 _Tristain Academy of Magic_

 _Morning_

Colbert took in the two Earthers who had gathered in his office. The passengers had met the night before and chosen Captain Rollins as their leader, along with Agent Hansen as a sort of advisor on Halkeginia.

The duo had immediately provided a list of passengers and their occupations. Doctors, scientists, engineers, teachers, the list went on with professions that might prove useful to his research.

And now, two of those passengers, a doctor and a professor of mechanical engineering were gathered in his office.

Clearing his throat, he began. "Professor Keyes, Doctor Brant, I thank you for coming. I cannot emphasize how excited I am to speak with you. I suppose we should begin then."

"Thank you for having us Professor" replied Keyes smiling. "It's not every day you get the chance to help a civilization move into the future."

"Professor" nodded Doctor Brant.

"Why don't we get started by going over what your people do have that we might be familiar with. Technologies you've been trying to understand or improve" began Professor Keyes.

"Yes, well, as you may have seen outside, we have created steam engines for the Ostland but we have been having trouble modifying the design for smaller use. The engines on the Ostland are simply too heavy to mount on many of Tristain's existing airships. Additionally, the process of building the engines is quite complex and takes rather long to complete."

"I have also experimented with what Lord Hiraga has called a combustion engine, and modified it based on what I saw on the Zero fighter we found three years ago. I have had limited success in replicating the combustion reaction, however I have been unable to scale the design up."

"Hmmm… Well you've already taken the first steps, creating a steam engine" said Professor Keyes. "Steam engines eventually sparked the first major industrialization period on Earth. This ultimately led to internal combustion, which you have already experimented with. That ultimately led to the continuous development of transport technologies, trains, cars, airplanes and such. Fast forward 100 years later and you get…" he gestured out the window towards the parked airliner.

"As for your dilemma of beginning production of steam engines on a larger scale than what you've got now, you need two things: standardization and an assembly line. Those two will let you mass produce the engines. I'll see if I can come up with a working design for a first-gen steam engine, I'm fairly certain there's one or two more engineers among the passengers that can help with the math. You're more than welcome to sit in and learn a bit yourself."

Colbert was ecstatic. The meeting was going better than he could have imagined.

"That would be most appreciated Professor. Thank you" he said. He turned to Doctor Brant. "Doctor, your medical expertise would be most appreciated as well. Our water mages are quite skilled but there are still far too many people in our country who succumb to disease."

"I do like a challenge Headmaster" replied Doctor Brant. "I'll be in the medical wing, taking observations. I will present my recommendations in a few days' time."

"Thank you both" said Colbert, beaming. "This will truly help our people."

"Just be sure you keep up your end of the bargain!" replied Brant as she stepped out of the office. "We are a hungry lot!"

* * *

 _3 Days After Arrival_

 _Tristain Academy of Magic_

 _Early Evening_

Victor was quickly finding that electricity was a beautiful thing.

He'd lucked out on grabbing one of the emergency hand-crank radios when they'd cracked open the plane's cargo hold.

But that still meant he had to spend about an hour a day hand-cranking to charge his phone and shaver.

 _Worth it_ he thought, as he listened to some music on his way from dinner.

As he climbed the stairs up the tower to his room, he heard it again. The sinister voice in his head.

 _ **Seek out Master. She grows lonely and weary. She longs for companionship.**_

 _Here we go again_ he thought. _Can't wait to leave this place and it's creepy voices behind._ Shaking his head, as if to shake the voice loose, he took his headphones off and and spoke.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

Silence greeted him for a moment before the voice spoke again.

 _ **Your thoughts betray you Lífþrasir. This is your home now. You belong here with Master.**_

Victor decided to humor whatever this was.

 _Hmmm, no thanks random voice in my head. In two months, I'll be flying home, far away from this medieval fantasy land._

 _ **Your arrogance blinds you Lífþrasir. Your ties to your homeworld are irrelevant. Your preferences are irrelevant. All you hold dear is irrelevant. You will serve your Master.**_

As the voice spoke, Victor was suddenly blinded by a searing headache, ten times worse than the ones he'd been experiencing in the morning.

Struggling to maintain his composure, he stumbled up the stairs to his room, holding the wall and groaning in pain.

 _What the hell is this?! What are you doing to me?! It's… You're in the runes, aren't you?!_

 _ **You will learn Lífþrasir.**_

 _Son of a bitch. Get out. Get out!_

The voice stopped but the pain didn't as he stumbled into his room, forgetting Tiffania's advice as the runes of the _Mundalfr_ began to glow.

* * *

 _Earth_

 _Somewhere Over the Atlantic_

Far above the Atlantic Ocean, a US Government Gulfstream GS650 en route to Brussels cruised along at Mach .90, heading into the night and the skies above Europe.

"...our eggheads can't quite figure this one out, Doctor. The best they can come up with is that the magic in Avalon is somehow making its way over here, giving these people powers" explained Carlisle, as she sat facing Dr. Dreyfus. Alex, meanwhile had dozed off in his seat.

"Yes, I can see from this that your people are on the right track" spoke the elder Dreyfus, looking over the files on the abnormals and some of their reported abilities. "You see, back in the old days, Scotty and I theorized that when the eclipse portals form, the exotic energy that permeates Avalon and allows its residents to perform these extraordinary feats… We theorized that this energy, this magic, for lack of a better term, bleeds through to our world through the eclipse portals."

"Alright, but that doesn't explain why only some people are affected" argued Carlisle.

"No, but our next theory might. Scotty and I believed that there are certain genetic markers that allow humans to tap into this energy when exposed to it, and thus manipulate their surroundings" replied Dreyfus. "Hence, why only some individuals in Avalon are able to use magic."

"So when it comes to our abnormals, what you're saying is that only people with these markers can use magic, and only when the Eclipse portals are open?"

"When it comes to magic here on Earth, yes. We were, unfortunately, unable to prove this theory but we did manage to track down a few individuals and take DNA samples. Our research into this stalled rather quickly, as there was no way to realistically sift through that many genetic markers to find a specific set. Though I suspect that technology has improved over the past ten years to the point where this may be feasible."

"We've managed to get DNA samples from some of the more recent cases. We can easily search through thousands of markers a day, but it's still time consuming" admitted Carlisle. "If we can get the samples from 10 years ago and compare them, we might find the common link though."

"Yes, doubtless one of the many projects I'll be pursuing once we arrive. The more samples I have, the easier it will be to find a common marker. Regardless, I'll need my old case files, and any research material you may have held from my previous tenure."

"You'll get everything you need Doctor. I can't say how glad I am you agreed to help us."

Dreyfus nodded.

Still curious, Carlisle pressed him for more.

"So say someone is directly exposed to magic. How do you determine what kind of power they develop?"

Dreyfus shrugged his shoulders.

"Bear in mind, my dear, this is entire subject is entirely hypothetical. Ascertaining the genetic nature of magic is impossible without direct study. It may have something to do with personality, or perhaps familial genetics, or it may be completely random what kind of abilities an individual may develop."

* * *

 _Tristain Academy of Magic_

Leaning against the wall of his bedroom, Victor struggled to stay sane, one hand clutching his head.

"GAH!"

 _ **Would it not be better to submit Lífþrasir?**_

That same, annoying voice continued to taunt him.

 _Shut the fuck up!_

As he fought with the voice, he felt warmth emanate from the runes on his back. He could hear the second voice that had tormented him.

 _ **NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU TWIST ANOTHER!**_

The conflicting sensations emanating from both sets of runes made it feel like his chest was on fire.

Victor struggled to breathe as the voices continued their verbal joust.

 ** _Fight all you want, it makes no difference. You WILL submit!_**

Another flare in his headache. The pain was like no migraine he'd ever felt.

 _Maybe I should submit... Just make it stop..._

His back warmed, and the gentle feeling emanating from the _Mundalfr_ runes spread throughout his body to his hands, eliciting a response from the _Lífþrasir_ runes.

This went on several times as both runes struggled to overcome each other.

 _ **You must resist, Lífþrasir. The power I give you will unlock your potential. Use it and fight!**_

Finally, the constant barrage of sensations and pain proved too much for Victor.

"RRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH! HIJO DE SATANÁS! BOTH OF YOU! GET OUT!"

What happened next came in a blur. Victor punched the wall…

(BOOM!)

...and it promptly exploded, throwing Victor across the room. He hit the back wall hard before falling face first onto the stone floor.

Groaning, Victor picked himself up and stared at the flaming hole in the wall in disbelief. Through it, he could see a dumbfounded Tiffania standing in her room, staring back at him. Looking down at his hand, flames danced between his fingers, though he felt only a mild heat, not the burning one would expect when one's hand was on freaking fire. The pain in his head and the sensations from the runes had all stopped as well.

At that strange, surreal moment, only one thought came to Victor.

"What the fuck just happened?!"

* * *

 **You'll probably hate me for stopping here. Fret not, next chapter is being worked on by myself and an army of tiny, fanfiction writing dwarves.**

 **The printing press idea is originally from the fanfiction "Storms Overhead" by Lione 'Tabuukilla' Fortuna. Please go check it out.**

 **Read and review!**


	9. Yer A Wizard Victor

**I'm back bitches! Chapter 9 here we go!**

 **Nemoskull: It's going to start picking up next chapter. I know I got off to a slow start but I can promise you the next chapter will cover a period of at least a week, if not two, rather than the day-to-day chapters we've seen so far.**

 **Gak237: No worries, hope you continue to enjoy the story. I appreciate the input on any stupid mistakes I make haha**

 **MayAnny Review 1: Haha thank you, hope you like the next chapter's title.**

 **MayAnny Review 2: Yes and the sad part is it's these poor, unfortunate, uneducated morons who stand to suffer the most from the Donald's policies. "Drain the Swamp? More like fill it with more alligators" (for those of you wondering what this is about, I live in the US and was livid at the US Election results and briefly posted a chapter simply with the words "Fuck Donald Trump". Also, Fuck Donald Trump).**

 **Bob the Turtle Review 1: Sshhhhh hehehe...**

 **Bob the Turtle Review 2: Hahaha I worked on a political campaign. And update on the job thing, I FINALLY GOT A MOTHAFUCKING JOB. And I'm a dude lol.**

 **lookman4590: You'd think that, but like I said in my PM, most of my time in January and February was spent applying for jobs and writing cover letters.**

 **Ospery Review 1: Haha sorry, couldn't resist… And shit… I can't believe I forgot about them haha. I will admit they'll play a part in the story but the main focus at the moment will be Victor and Tiffa, the passengers, and the Anomalies. For now...**

 **Ospery Review 2: Ta-da! New chapter! And yes, the scars have faded but it's going to be a tough year with the tangerine madman in charge and then another long three years once he's inevitably impeached and his dingus mcfuckface and worst governor ever VP Mike Pence becomes President. I hear Spain is nice this time of year...**

 **Ridli Scott: I'm basing this mostly on the anime, but remember these two are still learning of Void magic. And I got the printing press idea off "Storms Overhead", one of the few 1st person POV stories I actually like.**

 **Lander Blazer: Thank you! You'll see more. I know exactly where I want the story to go but the trick is filling in the blanks between the major events I have in my head.**

 **I own nothing. It all belongs to the author of Zero No Tsukaima (RIP).**

 **Fuck the Donald.**

* * *

 _Tristain Academy of Magic_

 _3 Days After Arrival_

 _Evening_

" _Dreadful_ " wrote Tiffania on yet another piece submitted by her students. Tiffania sighed at yet another night spent grading papers. The student in question had written a lengthy piece on how when in times of unease by the commoners, force and intimidation was the answer. _Probably one of the foreign brats_ she thought. _The ones that have made my job… interesting._

Nearly all of the Tristanians saw her as a hero after the Ancient Dragon Crisis and treated her well enough. Though she could trust Colbert, Saito, Louise, and many of her peers, the mere fact that she was an elf teaching the children of the nobility earned her many enemies from abroad. Even as one of the four Void mages, she'd received death threats from nobles in other countries when she'd first started teaching.

In the beginning, she'd retreated into her shy persona so as not to draw attention. Privately, however, she'd had many restless nights. Looking back, her personality had certainly changed compared to now.

Though she was still somewhat shy, she was proud of the fact that she had grown more assertive over the past few years. Those first few months had been increasingly hard, especially with only Colbert to confide in as Saito and Louise spent their honeymoon on Earth. And therein lay another source of frustration.

After the wedding, she'd given up on Saito, dismissing her love for him as a naive childlike crush thanks to her limited interaction with humans growing up in the forests of Albion.

However, if she was being honest with herself, she still felt a pang of jealousy. _How could I not?_ she'd thought. _Saito would do anything for Louise._ She remembered her first interaction with Saito. _The man died for her and would have stayed dead had I not brought him back._

Even as such feelings of jealousy had subsided over the past few months, she still felt increasingly lonely at the Academy. She longed for someone like Saito, so loyal and caring.

So when the possibility of summoning her own familiar had come up, she had secretly been elated at the thought of having a companion to confide in. _Or something more._

Her joy had quadrupled when the possibility of Saito being her familiar had come up. Even as but close friends, she had grown even closer than before to both Saito and Louise. If she summoned him successfully, she would inevitably see him and Louise far more often than now.

Her feelings on the whole matter had been put on hold when she had failed to summon Saito and instead summoned the airliner and 122 humans from Earth. And it was now, 3 days after the incident that she could fully process the feelings she had experienced.

Finding out that Victor was her designated Familiar had been a strange experience. On the one hand, she'd been happy to find out who she had intended to summon. On the other, the man was clearly not on the same page as her. Although he had warmed up to her from his initially cold demeanor and was at least friendly, the fact remained that he would be leaving in two months and was not interested in remaining as her Familiar. A fact she couldn't help but resent him for.

 _The summoning was supposed to bring me the Familiar best suited for me… So why him?_

The fact that he was an attractive man who came across as a vulgar rogue only compounded the matter.

 _He certainly is attractive… And his accent and manner of speaking is roguish, yet strangely charming. But… as he is so fond of repeating… he won't be here long regardless. He'll be leaving with the rest of his people in two months._

Tiffa couldn't help but wonder though, if the future held something in store for the both of them. Given her elven heritage and her mother's teachings, she was a firm believer in fate and that everything that happened, did so for a purpose. With her situation with Victor, she couldn't help but chalk it up to fate that he'd been the Familiar most suited for her. Which begged the question: _if he was chosen for a reason, what will the next two months bring? So far as I know, without any external factors, a Familiar contract is for life. Will something happen to change that? He clearly does not see himself remaining in Halkeginia…_

That line of thinking brought her back to the mysterious runes on his back… _Mundalfr… Just what does it mean?_

She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes and attempting to dismiss the thoughts that had been brewing in her mind the entirety of the evening.

Looking back at the dreadful paper, she sighed. Many of her students were quite bright but there were a few who stuck to the old ways. Pushing back from her desk, she moved to her cupboard to grab a glass of her favorite wine.

As she moved, she heard yelling from next door. _Victor's room_ she thought.

She was about to move closer to the wall when the section closest to her desk promptly exploded.

(BOOM)

The explosion threw her back across the room, smacking her into the floor in front of the cupboard. Struggling to stand, she peered into the smoldering hole between her familiar's room and hers. A figure that could only be Victor was standing on the other side, staring confused at the hole. But that was not the only thing she noticed.

 _His hands… Flames dancing in his hands… He's a mage?_

Victor seemed to have noticed this as well as he inspected his flame covered hands. Looking back up, he uttered the only thing he could think of:

"What the fuck just happened?!"

"Are you alright Victor?" asked Tiffania, walking up to the smoldering hole.

"My head hurts and my hands are on freaking fire… But otherwise I'm peachy…" came the witty reply.

"Calm yourself… focus on calming yourself and the flames will stop" instructed Tiffania, watching as the flames seemed to grow and wane of their own accord. _He's clearly not in full control of them._

Victor did as told, steadying his breathing, and he immediately saw the flames dancing between his fingers wither and die.

"Ok, that solves that problem" he said. Grabbing her wand, Tiffania extinguished the flames on her end of the hole and walked through the smoldering hole to Victor's room.

"What in the hell just happened?" he told her.

Tiffania stared at Victor's hands, now normal. She could still picture the flames on them. Looking back at the hole in the wall, she spoke.

"That was magic. Pure, uncontrolled magic. You're a mage, Victor…" she said..

Victor looked at her, confused, before looking at his hands again.

"How is that possible? There's no magic on Earth. I've never done this before."

"I don't know. But I can definitely feel magic in you, now that I'm standing close to you. It's impressive really…"

Impressive did not begin to come close to describe it. With every passing moment, she could _feel_ his reserves growing as she stood next to him. As if all the ambient magic in the room was being drawn towards him. Void mages had an unusual ability to feel the magic of other mages, an ability likely derived from their proximity to the Founder's bloodline. Or so Louise had hypothesized when she'd first discovered the ability. She'd previously felt some magic in him but she had assumed it was derived from the Familiar runes. The amount of magic she could feel coursing through her Familiar now was easily ten times that.

Victor looked down, examining his arms. He could feel a strange tingling emanating from his center. With every heartbeat, it spread through his body. It was strange, but not unwelcome. Even more welcome was the fact that the voices that had tormented him were now quiet. Pulling down the top of his shirt, the runes engraved on his chest were no longer glowing, nor did they sting. He could still feel warmth coming from the _Mundalfr_ runes but that was waning. "How did I do that…" he thought aloud, staring at his hand.

"These walls are warded with several layers of reinforcement spells" said Tiffa nervously. "If you'd blasted through an unprotected wall, you could have killed me."

Victor smiled, looking embarrassed. "It was my first magic spell" he said staring at the hole, still stunned he'd blown the wall up.

Tiffania couldn't help but laugh.

Their little moment was short lived as Colbert and Chevreuse came barging in, wands out.

The bald Headmaster had been on the verge of falling asleep until two students had come running into his office, screaming bloody murder about an explosion in Professor Westwood's room.

Taking in the scene, he was glad they had called him. The hole in the wall immediately drew his attention, as did the obvious remnants of fire. It was clear a powerful fire spell had caused it.

"By the Founder, what happened here?" he demanded.

Tiffania moved to answer but Victor beat her to it.

"I got a little angry and uh… blew up the wall" he said nervously.

"He somehow managed to cast a large fire spell, Headmaster. And without a wand at that" added Tiffania.

"You?" replied Colbert, still not sure if he was being serious. "But you're from Earth… How can you be a mage?"

Victor shrugged as Tiffania took over. "Perhaps we should discuss this in your office, Headmaster?"

Colbert nodded. Turning back the way he came, he addressed the students who had gathered from the commotion. "It's all right now. Go back to sleep. You all still have classes tomorrow."

The students all grumbled back to their rooms as the three adults headed to the Headmaster's Office.

The walk was mostly silent as all three of them had different thoughts stirring.

Victor was still in shock. His mind raced with possible explanations, as well as other thoughts.

 _Could it be the runes? Could they have caused this? We still have no idea what Mundalfr_ _is… Or what those runes' powers are. Or what the hell is going on with the runes in the first place. Are they still trying to brainwash me? Why does it feel like only the Lífþrasir runes are trying to do that?_

Colbert and Tiffania's thoughts followed a similar line. Questions about the source of Victor's powers, the nature of the _Mundalfr_ runes.

Once inside his office, Colbert locked the door and turned to Victor and Tiffa.

"Alright Professor, Mister De La Fuente: please explain why there is a massive hole in one of my dormitories."

Summoner and Familiar looked at each other before Victor began.

"Well, this requires a bit of a long explanation. I already spoke with Tiffania about this and she assured me she was looking into it" he said, looking back at Tiffa, who nodded.

"The runes… They're speaking to me" he continued. Colbert motioned for him to continue. "One set has the voice of a man, trying to brainwash me into serving Tiffa. The other is a woman, more gentle, telling me to 'resist' or 'find myself'."

"Tonight, I decided to humor them and try to talk to them. It didn't go too well when I told them I'd soon be gone from this place." Victor didn't notice Tiffania flinch at the mention of this. "My chest runes started burning and gave me a massive headache, worse than any I've felt before. It only got worse when I got to my room."

"I heard the other voice, the one from my back runes telling me to resist, to fight back. It was almost like the two runes started fighting each other at that point, instead of tormenting me. It hurt like hell. Between the pain and the voices, I just snapped. And that's when I somehow blew a hole in the wall" finished Victor.

"Do you think this has something to do with _Mundalfr_? Could those runes be giving him powers?" asked Tiffa.

Colbert shook his head. "I do not think so. You see, nearly every mage in history discovers their magic the same way: accidentally. Usually in times of great emotional stress." A smile came over Colbert as he remembered. "I discovered my affinity for fire when my parents took away my favorite toy because I would not put it away for dinner" he said, chuckling. "I ended up burning one of the servants' hair off."

"My theory is that you've had an affinity for magic all along, but that the lack of magic on Earth has kept you from unlocking that ability. Now here, in magic-rich Halkeginia, your powers have awakened."

Victor thought about this, thinking back to everything he had experienced since arriving. The last words he'd heard during his "fight" with the runes resonated in his head.

"Before I… blew up… I heard the _Mundalfr_ runes say something… 'You must resist, _Lífþrasir_. The power I give you will unlock your potential. Use it and fight!'"

Colbert absorbed this information and thought for a moment.

"That certainly adds to my theory. Though I'm afraid it raises more questions than answers. The Lífþrasir runes are a spell created by the Founder, so it could be the Founder's voice in those runes. But I am unsure who the voice in the _Mundalfr_ runes may belong to. And what power could they referring to?"

Victor nodded as Colbert continued.

"I have been unable to find any information on the _Mundalfr_ runes but it does seem to suggest you had the potential all along."

"Hmmm… Would being a fire mage be the reason I've been waking up sweating every morning since I got here?" asked Victor.

Colbert nodded. "That's precisely why. You see, fire mages tend to be the most susceptible to the side effects of build ups of magic within them. Other affinities experience different effects but they are most noticeable with fire users. Though such effects are usually only felt for a brief period in childhood. Your body learns to quickly adapt its core temperature so as not to overheat you. Again, this normally happens during childhood, but as you are now being exposed to magic for the first time, I suspect the same is happening now."

"Ok… Well that aside, the good news is the brainwashing from the _Lífþrasir_ runes seems to have stopped for now…" replied Victor. "Come to think of it, I haven't heard a peep since my fiery tantrum."

"I told you to come to me if the voices started up again" chided Tiffa.

"Sorry... it happened so suddenly, all I could think about was getting them to stop."

"I shall keep looking into the runes, and see if there's anything we can do about the voices" added Colbert. "For now, I think a good night's sleep may be in order" he finished, looking at the clock near the door.

* * *

 _The Next Morning_

Breakfast had been a loud affair, with talk of the explosion in one of the dormitories and the fact that a commoner had suddenly developed magic.

Victor had tried his best to answer all the questions, both from curious students and his fellow passengers. He'd tried to replicate what he'd done last night at lunch, only to fail spectacularly.

Hansen, however, had no time for such pleasantries:

Today was the day they would try to set up consistent communications with Earth.

He'd cornered Louise and Saito after breakfast and now they stood in the courtyard waiting for the designated time. Several passengers and curious students had gathered to witness the event, Colbert, Victor and the flight crew among them.

Finally, Hansen's watch indicated 1100 Zulu and he gave Louise the go ahead.

The pinkette began chanting, her wand beginning to glow.

The instant the portal materialized, something came flying through and landed with a thud in the courtyard.

Milliseconds later, the portal destabilized before Louise cancelled the spell.

The group moved to inspect the new arrival. It was a large container, almost the size of a grown adult.

Agent Hansen moved to open it, popping the latches on the container.

Opening it, he saw a note pinned to whatever was inside. After a moment of reading it, he began removing the components inside. The native Halkeginians watched as he first removed a tripod, followed by what looked like a large, thin window. Next, he pulled out a large folded rectangular case and unfolded it, revealing a large panel with black squares dotting it. Finally, he pulled out what looked like a white rectangle and a large, fat pen.

"What is that?" asked Louise.

"Looks like a solar panel" answered Victor, recognizing the device immediately. "Photovoltaic cells in the panel convert sunlight to electricity."

"Correct, we need something to generate power" added Hansen. "Something that doesn't require someone to be constantly brewing petrol." Hansen pulled out the last component, the power generator that would be attached to the solar panel.

"Fascinating" remarked Colbert.

"What exactly is all this anyway?" asked Captain Rollins.

"It's a Window Generator" answered Hansen as he continued to assemble the device. "Used to peer into this world for reconnaissance and study. A bit fuzzy on how they work exactly, but the principle is they capture the errant photons from parallel worlds, allowing you to see what's going on on the other side. We're going to use this one to communicate more efficiently with Earth."

The group watched as Hansen finished assembling the Window Generator. Plugging in the solar panels, he angled them towards the sun and waited. Sure enough, the indicator light on the portable generator came on, showing that it was receiving electricity from the photovoltaic panels.

"Alright, let's see if this works" commented Hansen, before switching on the Window Generator. A gentle hum began emanating from the device as Hansen fiddled with the controls. The clear display on the Generator turned a shade of slight blue as the view inside became fuzzy. Turning a few knobs, the view inside, which had until then shown the walls of the Academy in a blue tinge, suddenly shifted. It showed an open Belgian field with the massive E40 Freeway in the distance.

Peering through the window while turning it around on the tripod, Hansen found what he was looking for: the nondescript van of SWORD's Mobile 1 team. They had their window generator set up and were now staring at Hansen through it. One of them even gave a wave, which Hansen returned.

Pulling out a dry-erase board, one of them wrote:

 **CONFIRM CLEAR PICTURE?**

Hansen pulled out a dry-erase board from the box and wrote back.

CONFIRMED. GOOD TO SEE YOU.

 **GOOD TO SEE YOU TOO. STATUS?**

ALL IS WELL. HALKS BEING GOOD HOSTS. FOOD AND SHELTER PROVIDED.

UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT. PAX INTENDED AS FAMILIAR HAS DEVELOPED MAGIC.

 **ELABORATE.**

VICTOR DE LA FUENTE, USA, DEVELOPED FIRE ABILITIES LAST NIGHT.

 **ACKNOWLEDGED. OBSERVE AND CONTINUE REPORTING.**

 **NOW ONTO BUSINESS.**

* * *

 _SWORD HQ_

 _Brussels_

"Director Reynolds, Agent Carlisle has arrived."

Reynolds turned from watching the interaction between the field team and Halkeginia to the aide that had just informed him.

"Thank you. Send them to my office" he told the aide.

Carlisle didn't take long to arrive. She walked in with the two men he'd been hoping to see.

"Agent Carlisle. Welcome back. Job well done" he told her. Turning to the two men, he spoke.

"Doctor Dreyfus, Mr. Dreyfus, welcome. I'm Nick Reynolds, Director of the Sentient World Observation and Research Division, or SWORD. We're glad you decided to come help."

The younger Dreyfus spoke first, shaking Reynolds' hand. "Well, this is quite the operation you've got here. Surprised nobody's found you guys out yet."

"Well we wouldn't be very good at our jobs if we had Mr. Dreyfus." He moved to shake the elder Dreyfus' hand. "Dr. Dreyfus, welcome back. Like what we've done with the place?"

"Director, this is… quite remarkable" replied the old scientist. "You've certainly expanded since I was last here."

"I'm glad you approve. The labs haven't changed nearly as drastically. I'm sure you'll feel right at home."

"Yes! I'm eager to get to work and see what you've discovered in my absence."

"Agent Carlisle mentioned you wanted a brief on Saito Hiraga and his history."

"Ah yes! I would like to review the files on this Saito Hiraga fellow" said the scientist excitedly.

As Reynolds was about to respond, his phone went off, the caller ID indicating it was Agent Owens.

"We'll have a full write up of everything ready for you. Now if you'll excuse me… Agent Carlisle will show you to the lab" said Reynolds, motioning for them to leave.

Once the door had closed, Reynolds picked up the phone. "Reynolds."

" _Boss, you might want to get down here. We had a big problem."_

* * *

"How did this happen?" asked Reynolds, standing over the bloody body of the Russian agent lying in the hallway.

"I still have to review the surveillance tapes to find out what went wrong but…" replied Agent Owens. "We had nothing on him, no family, no leverage to get him to talk. So I followed your orders and prepared to use… different methods to get him to talk."

Reynolds said nothing as Owens continued.

"We were preparing to transfer him to a black site for questioning. He grabbed one of the guards' weapons and shot two of my men. The guards had orders to keep him alive but… he must have forced their hand."

At that moment, one of the guards came in. "Sir, surveillance tapes are ready" he said.

The three moved to the security console outside the cell. "Proceed" ordered Reynolds, still seething.

The high-definition camera captured everything. The video showed the agent sitting in his cell as the guard came to the door.

" _Prisoner, stand and face the wall."_

The Russian said nothing as he complied.

" _Hands on the wall where I can see them."_

The Russian obeyed as one guard walked in and another trained his weapon on the prisoner.

The instant the first guard touched the Russian's left hand to handcuff him, the Russian moved.

At a speed defying his apparent age, the Russian pulled and slammed the guard against the wall and in one smooth motion, grabbed the handgun from the guard's right hip and fired into the guard.

Reynolds' immediate thoughts at this harkened back to his days in the CIA.

 _Definitely ex-KGB._

The guard fell, clutching his side. The Russian used the body as a shield to position himself next.

Reynolds had learned the wounded man was in intensive care but expected to survive.

The second guard in the room raised his weapon but hesitated.

The Russian however, did not hesitate, firing at the guard twice. The first round missed, but the second one caught the guard in the shoulder, sending him to the ground in pain.

The Russian fled through the open door and down the hallway.

He didn't get far as he was eventually cornered in the maze-like hallways of the SWORD sub-basements. The Russian grumbled, looking for a way to escape as two guards came up, weapons drawn.

" _DROP THE WEAPON! BROS' ORUZHIYE!"_

The Russian did nothing but stare back at them.

" _DROP THE WEAPON OR WE WILL FIRE!"_

Barely audible, but enough to be picked up by the cameras, the Russian whispered.

" _Rodina"_

 _Motherland_ thought Reynolds, remembering his rusty Russian.

The tense standoff lasted only a few seconds. The instant the Russian began bringing the gun to bear, the guards fired one shot each, both striking the Russian. By the time a medic had gotten to him, he was dead. And with that, their best shot at figuring out what the Russians knew was gone, bled out on the floor.

Owens turned the screen off as Reynolds absorbed the information. He let out a long sigh as he spoke.

"So we're back to square one then…" he said.

"Looks like" replied Owens. "I'm sorry. We should have had more men in there…"

Reynolds said nothing as he moved to leave.

"Clean up this mess, Owens" he said from the hallway.

Owens felt nothing but shame as he replied. "Yes sir…"

* * *

 _Tristain Magic Academy_

 _Vestri Court_

 _That Afternoon_

Tiffania fell to her knees, panting.

"Another" ordered Louise, standing off to the side. Her arms were crossed as she watched Tiffania practice her void spells

After a sharp exhale, Tiffa pushed herself up.

"You're still using too much energy for the portals. Try to focus on using only what you need. Come on. One more then we'll rest."

Tiffa rolled her shoulders. She was sweating underneath her professor's robe. She hadn't even had time to change into something more suited for training before Louise had dragged her from lunch to practice their Void magic.

"I go back home tomorrow, so we're getting our practice done today!" she'd ranted as she dragged her fellow Void mage out to the Vestri Courtyard.

She watched as Tiffania began chanting for the portal spell. They had memorized the incantations long ago and were able to quickly go through the words.

A portal began forming at the end of Tiffa's wand as she began pushing all her strength into it.

"Good, good, keep it up!" shouted Louise.

The portal materialized and through it, Des Ornieres was clearly visible. Tiffa was able to hold it another ten seconds before she dropped her wand and closed it. Though portalling to another point in Halkeginia was less magic-intensive than portalling to Earth, it still strained her.

She wobbled a bit but managed to stay on her feet this time.

"You're getting better. Remember, the best way to build up your reserves is to exhaust them" said Louise.

"Really?" panted Tiffania. "I don't see you barely able to stand. And you cast three in a row!" she shot back playfully.

Louise shrugged her shoulders. "I ate a big lunch."

The two shared a brief moment of silence before they burst out laughing.

"Founder" said Louise between laughs. "I missed this."

"Yes, it's been far too long since we truly trained together" replied Tiffa. The two sat down on the grass next to each other to enjoy the crisp Autumn breeze blowing through the courtyard.

"I'm sorry we haven't visited more often. The last harvest and Saito's obsession with his mission from Earth have kept us busy" admitted Louise. "It's strange really, I've never seen him this focused on anything."

Tiffania briefly remembered the task Saito had been given by his homeworld. To find the source of the unknown phenomena plaguing Earth.

"Has he found anything?" she asked the pinkette, who shook her head.

"No, he and Colbert have run into a wall. The only information left is at the Romalian Archives."

Tiffa said nothing, apprehensive at the thought of returning to Romalia under the new Pope. As if reading her mind, Louise continued.

"I don't like this new Pope. Too radical" she confessed. "I mean, what is there in the Holy Land worth dying for?"

Tiffania nodded, remembering her time with Saito in the Holy Land. Louise was right. All she remembered was widespread deserts dotted with the occasional oases.

"Every crusade that Halkeginia has sent has ended in disaster. And for what? A desert?" continued the pinkette. She didn't outright say it, her still being a firm believer in the Church of Brimir. But she felt the Church's official position on the Elves was misguided.

True, since the Ancient Dragon Crisis, the relatively small minority of people in Halkeginia identifying as Moderates had blossomed into a majority in Tristain and Gallia. Albion was still split roughly halfway down the middle. Only Romalia maintained its Fundamentalist majority, it being the seat of power for the Brimiric Church.

The Moderates believed that the word of the Founder was much more flexible than was written. Many of them believed that rather than follow the strict interpretation the Church made of Brimir's teachings, devoted Brimirists should instead focus on selectively using the wisdom of the Founder to solve the many problems that plagued Halkeginia, such as corruption, hunger, and poverty.

Queen Henrietta had taken the wisdom of Saito's world and used it to expand on the Moderate view on Brimir's teachings, proactively rooting out corruption where it lay and making an example out of Nobles who did not treat their commoners right. Though many had resisted such radical changes at first, having a direct descendant of the Founder in Louise helped convince those who were… hesitant.

The result had been that Tristain's people were much happier than before and had renewed faith in their Nobles. Even Pope Caius II, before his untimely death, had given the Queen his blessing in strengthening the core tenets of the faith while improving the lives of its followers. Unfortunately, many in the Church in Romalia had not taken too kindly to such radical teachings of free will and freedom of speech and tensions between Tristain and the Fundamentalists in the Holy See had grown significantly in the past few years.

Caius II's death and the election of the Fundamentalist Pope Honorius months prior had only exacerbated the tensions between Tristain and Romalia. Gallia to an extent had also drawn the ire of the Fundamentalists, but with Queen Charlotte being a Void mage, such criticisms were more muted for not wanting to provoke the wrath of the largest of the Brimiric countries. Tristain on the other hand, being such a small country, was much easier to condemn.

Louise, being a Void mage, had received her fair share of criticism for being so fervently behind the Queen. Such criticism was obviously anonymous, as no one dared criticize her openly for fear of drawing the wrath of the Pink Terror, as she was so affectionately referred to in hushed tones.

Though she secretly relished at her reputation, Louise wished for a better name. _Pink Terror doesn't necessarily inspire, well terror_ she'd thought when she'd first heard the name.

"I confess Louise, I do worry about why the Pope would choose to call us down to Romalia, with tensions being the way they are" said Tiffania.

"I know" replied Louise. "There is more at work here than meets the eye. One does not simply gather the four Void Mages and their Familiars in one place without a very good reason. Especially when one of the Void Mages happens to be an elf" she said, looking at her elven friend with worry.

Tiffa met her gaze and nodded, appreciating the concern. "No… And I don't particularly care for the fact that the Pope used your needing access to the Archives to force me to summon another Familiar and get us into this mess" added Tiffania, glancing in the direction of a group of passengers milling about the courtyard.

"Hmmm… When we go down there, you tell your Familiar to watch himself" warned Louise. "From Saito's teachings, I know he is not a Brimirist, nor looking to become one. And neither are the rest of his peers. They already look at you with suspicion. So be careful. The last thing we need is an Inquisition called down upon us."

* * *

 _Tristain Magic Academy_

 _Later that evening_

Having just returned from a meeting with Lapidus and the backup flight crew, Captain Rollins set his notes down on his desk and lit one of his precious cigarettes to try to calm his nerves.

 _Can't use too many of these on the off chance tobacco is scarce here… Still, I think I deserve it after the past few days._ _Especially with what's to come…_

He thought back to the notes he'd received from SWORD earlier.

 _Flying over an unknown world with no radio guidance, no GPS, and no accurate charts. Just VFR the whole way. This'll be fun._

He was of course referring to the notes currently sitting on his desk detailing the flight plan for the return journey.

 **OCN29 ECLIPSE RETURN FLIGHT PLAN**

 **TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE WILL OCCUR NOV. 27 AT 1558 ZULU**

 **OCN29 MUST BE IN POSITION WITHIN ECLIPSE UMBRA TO TRANSITION TO EARTH.**

 **FLIGHTPLAN IS AS FOLLOWS**

 **TAKEOFF TRISTAIN MAGIC ACADEMY NOV. 27 AT 1115 ZULU**

 **DISTANCE: 1786 NMI**

 **FLT TIME: 3HR 48MIN**

 **FLY 893 NMI AT MAG HDG 068**

 **FLY 893 NMI AT MAG HDG 098**

 **ARRIVE ECLIPSE SITE NO LATER THAN 1515 ZULU**

 **TRANSITION TO EARTH AT 1558 ZULU**

 **ECLIPSE EMERGENCE SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY OF MIDWAY ATOLL**

 **(JUST FOCUS ON NOTHING BUT MIDWAY ATOLL WHEN TRANSITIONING AND THE PORTAL WILL SPIT YOU OUT WHERE YOU NEED TO GO)**

 **(IT WORKED FOR HIRAGA. IT'LL WORK FOR YOU. DON'T BOTHER ASKING HOW IT WORKS. IT'S MAGIC. WE DON'T KNOW EITHER)**

That last statement had gotten a few nervous chuckles from the pilots as they'd discussed it.

 **REACQUIRE NAV/GPS UPON EMERGENCE. MAKE CONTACT WITH ESCORT FLIGHT**

 **MIDWAY ATOLL AIRFIELD ARRIVAL**

 **DISEMBARKATION AND DEBRIEF**

Rollins saw the sense in Midway Atoll. It was small, isolated, and a military installation. Perfect for hiding an airliner that "crashed on a deserted island in the Pacific". The entire crew had laughed awkwardly when the SWORD agents had explained the cover story they'd come up with for the airliner's disappearance and eventual discovery.

And yet on that note, he couldn't help but wonder what agony his ex-wife and children were going through. Or the loved ones of his passengers.

 _Missing and presumed dead_ he thought. _How are we going to deal with that when we return?_

He recalled a passage from a book he'd read recently that seemed appropriate. One person he did not envy was SWORD's communications department.

" _Dear Earth, remember those passengers who died and we had some nice funerals for? Turns out they're alive and were "stranded on a deserted island!" Our bad!"_

 _It's like Cast Away times 122_ he thought. _Nothing we can do about it except trust SWORD to handle it._ The clandestine organization had already pledged to handle everything from rent payments to feeding passengers' pets. Though Rollins knew the emotional damage would be harder to overcome for everyone's loved ones.

Turning back to the notes, he sighed.

 _Two months_ he thought. _Two months and I'll be performing the most critical and most dangerous flight in my career._

If, during his training in the Australian Air Force, someone had told him he'd someday have to fly a passenger airliner over a fantasy world with no guidance, he'd have punched the bloke in the face and had a laugh.

Still, Rollins couldn't help but worry. _The problem is fuel._

Their plan meant that their margin of error fuel-wise was small, less than two hours of flexibility if something went wrong. They had burned through most of their fuel on the flight over the Pacific and circling around Tristain. The plane only had a limited amount of fuel left and even IF Colbert could make enough for them, they still had no way of pumping it into the 787's massive fuel tanks.

If their timing was wrong, they'd be royally fucked. Take off too early and they might not have enough fuel to circle around waiting for the eclipse. Take off too late and they'd miss the Eclipse altogether or burn extra fuel trying to make up lost time.

They had to take off with enough time before the eclipse where most of the time and fuel spent waiting for it to occur would be used to fly to the site.

 _Hmph_ he chuckled as the nicotine in the cigarette finally began to take effect. _I'll need to look at the local maps… I still don't like it. Too many unknowns..._

* * *

Being the last one out, Tiffa closed the door to the Headmaster's office.

 _Bloody staff meetings_ she thought. _They've devolved into screaming matches. These new staff are more trouble than they're worth._

Now that she was finally done with her responsibilities, she could finally go speak with her familiar.

She'd heard Vic wanted to speak to her regarding his abilities. And truth be told, she wanted to speak to him as well, ensure he was adjusting to them.

Being a small academy, it took no time for news to spread. By late afternoon, all her students could talk about was how the professor's new familiar had burnt his lunch to a crisp... after he sneezed.

 _He's likely at Camp Oceanic with the rest of them_ she thought, making her way downstairs from the Main Tower.

The passengers had quickly designated their usual meeting spot just outside the walls of the Academy "Camp Oceanic", due to being near the eponymous machine that had brought them to Tristain.

Crossing the courtyard quickly, she could already hear the spirited conversations coming from just outside the walls.

* * *

"Basically, now that SWORD can finally talk to us, they won't shut up" said Hansen chuckling, discussing the few things he could with his fellow passengers. A group of them had gathered at Camp Oceanic around a small bonfire and were relaxing underneath the alien sky of Halkeginia, the twin moons hovering over them.

Victor listened to the conversation, but had decided to immerse himself in the book he was reading and forget about the embarrassment that had transpired throughout the day.

First, he'd sneezed and burnt his lunch to a crisp… as well as his neighbor's right eyebrow.

Not to mention what had occurred later that day in his room... when he'd fired out the other end…

 _Those were my favorite kind of briefs too…_ he thought sadly.

He shuddered, trying to hide his red face from the rest of his passengers in his book. Luckily, nobody had been around for that last one and nobody seemed to notice his beet red face.

"Well, I'm freezing, so I'm going to bed. G'night mates" said Hansen, as he walked off. Victor kept his eyes on his book but gave him a fist-bump as he walked by him.

It wasn't long before something else interrupted his reading.

"Victor"

Looking up from his book, Vic saw none other than his summoner walking up to him. Scooting over, he let her sit down next to him.

"Hey, glad you found me. Been meaning to talk to you."

"So I hear. I assume it's due to your newfound abilities?"

Whatever witty retort Victor had, died in that moment.

"You heard about lunch…" he deadpanned, staring back at the fire.

"I heard about lunch…"

Victor rolled his eyes. "The whole 'being-able-to-control-fire" thing is cool but I have no idea HOW to control it" he said. Looking back at his summoner, he swallowed his pride before continuing. "Think you could give me a few pointers on how to not light shit on fire every time I sneeze?"

Tiffania, despite having no idea what he meant by "cool", nodded her head in agreement.

"I thought you might say that…"

After a pregnant pause, she continued.

"I'd be more than happy to teach you some of the magic I know" she said, looking at him. "Fire happens to be my secondary affinity so we could start there and work our way through the other elements. But not mere control. I want my Familiar to be competent. If I do this, I'll be teaching you how to wield your magic properly."

Victor's eyebrows shot up. "I… You'd teach me how to be an actual mage? Throwing fireballs and lightning and shit?"

"Yes. Although I do ask something in return" she said. "I need help practicing my Void spells. Louise and Saito return to their estate tomorrow. I need to brush up on my spells before our trip to Romalia. Would you be willing to lend me some of your power and help me practice?"

Victor shrugged. "Sure, it shouldn't be a problem" he said, excited at the prospect of learning magic. "So when do we get started?"

Tiffa nodded. "My afternoons are relatively quiet, so I am certain we could find some time starting tomorrow."

Vic smiled. "Cool. Harry Potter status achieved" he said with a smile, rubbing his hands together.

Tiffa seized the opportunity to finally ask him. "You keep using that word: cool? What does it mean? And what is Harry Potter status?"

Victor couldn't help but laugh. "Cool means something is… well… umm… Shit, I've never had to describe what it means" he chuckled. "It means something is neat, interesting, or fascinating. As for the other question, it's a book series from Earth about a boy wizard who goes to a magic school, much like this one."

"But I thought there was no magic on Earth?"

"There isn't… although recent events have got me wondering... But I digress. Just cause we don't have magic doesn't mean it's absent from our fiction. In fact, the concept of elves has been around for centuries."

Over the next hour, Tiffania couldn't help but be amazed at the wondrous works of fiction Victor was describing. The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Game of Thrones, an entire genre dedicated to things that would be commonplace in Halkeginia but were mere fiction on Earth.

"I actually happen to have the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones series on my tablet if you'd like to read them sometime. And the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies are on my laptop if you want to see the books come to life."

"Oh, are those the moving pictures from Earth? Saito has often spoken of them. Louise says they are quite the sight."

"Yep, that's it. You're going out of your way to teach me here. So feel free to ask to read or watch them any time."

"It would be wonderful to see them."

It being late, the two continued their conversation as they walked back to the dormitory together, their rooms being next to each other. As they reached Tiffa's room, she turned to her Familiar.

"For your training tomorrow, meet me at the Vestri Courtyard at 2 in the afternoon. And find something to wear that you're comfortable training in."

Vic nodded. "Sounds good, I'll see you then."

An awkward moment of silence went by before Tiffa finally broke it.

"Well, I must get to bed. Good night Victor" she said quickly, entering her room in a hurry.

"Yeah" he replied, confused, as the door closed. "Good night."

Victor stared at the door for a moment before moving to his own room.

 _Was she checking me out?_ he thought, his face scrunched up. He looked back at the door one more time before entering his own.

Shutting the door, he moved to his suitcase to change for bed, still thinking about the encounter. _I mean, sure she's cute…_

Catching his line of thought, Vic scolded himself mentally. _Down boy, that's your other head thinking. You know what happens when you get your heart broken by a girl. You throw yourself on apps and bring home the first girl you meet up with. Happened with Lina, happened with Erin…_

He sighed, still remembering his latest breakup.

 _Not like that helps you forget though..._

It'd been a week and he was still having restless nights when all he could think of waiting to fall asleep was Erin.

 _I figured a trip to the other side of the world would help put some distance between us and sort things out. Heh… Well, I guess this place is just as far._

That line of thought brought him to another, one he hadn't really thought of before.

 _Jesus… I wonder how she's dealing with this. She probably thinks I'm dead with the rest of us…_

 _Great_ he thought. _I should hate her but now I feel bad for her._

He slipped on his sleeping tank and sweatpants and stared out the window letting his thoughts wander.

 _Ah, fuck you love_ he grunted mentally, grabbing his book and jumping into bed.

* * *

Tiffania closed the door.

She moved to her cupboard and poured herself a glass of wine to get her thoughts in order. She had not intended to linger outside her door, but she had frozen, just standing there with her Familiar, for some reason. _Like one of my fawning students_ she thought, rolling her eyes and recalling a certain, fiery Germanian redhead. _Perish the thought, Tiffania. He's attractive, yes, but nothing will happen. Even if it does, it won't end well with his imminent departure._

 _And yet…_

At a glance, beneath Victor's good looks and crude sense of humor, she sensed a vast reservoir of feeling and passion. There was also an immense amount of guilt and sadness hidden within him.

 _That's good, magic is about feeling, it comes from within. We can use that tomorrow. But what could possibly weigh so heavily upon him that it's clearly visible?_

She couldn't help but empathize with him, especially given that she had brought him here.

 _He's had his heart broken... recently_ she theorized. _Or he's lost someone dear to him._

 _Hmph… Maybe we're not so different after all_ she thought, sipping the wine.

Loss was one thing Tiffa knew all too well. Her train of thought inevitably carried her to memories she would rather forget.

Although he had been distant during her childhood, her father had never left Tiffania or her mother wanting. The Duke had made sure they were well taken care of.

But it was his keeping of an elven mistress that had brought some of the more extremist individuals in Albion down upon them without mercy. The same extremists whose manifesto eventually lead to Reconquista.

First, they had ambushed her father while hunting, slitting his throat from ear to ear.

Then, they had come for her mother and her.

 _Be quiet my little dove. Whatever happens, you must not make a sound. I love you._

Those were the last words her mother had ever spoken to her.

Tiffania could feel her heartbeat picking up and tears forming in her eyes. She took another large swig of the wine.

The nightmares of hiding in the closet had mostly subsided over the years, but she could still remember her mother screaming.

Tiffania had followed her mother's orders and kept quiet. She kept quiet as her mother was dragged out of the closet screaming. She kept quiet as they drove their knives into her over and over. She kept quiet as they left her there, bleeding to death. She kept quiet until her father's vassal, the Baron of South Gotha found her still hiding in the closet less than an hour later.

Her father's most trusted follower, he personally executed the few attackers left alive after he and his men at arms had rushed to their liege lord's defense. However her being an elf meant he had to smuggle her out and hide her in the forest.

Shaking her head as if to shake the bad memories away, she downed the glass of wine and poured herself another.

Tiffania sighed. _Every time my thoughts wander, they turn to that…_

She stared out the window, trying to think about something else, the moons above staring back at her.

Her thoughts turned to tomorrow's magic lesson, and how she would teach her Familiar how to channel his magic.

It was staring through the window that she noticed lightning in the distance.

 _Odd, you don't usually see thunderstorms in Autumn_ she thought.

The lightning itself was also odd as it flashed far more frequently than she'd ever seen it.

Looking closely, she saw strange colors in the sky above the storm.

 _What is that?_ she wondered.

* * *

 _SWORD HQ_

As the day shift left for the day, the SWORD night shift watched the monitor as the same unseasonal lightning storm flashed over the Belgian countryside. All the while, their readings on Void energy spiked with every flash of lightning.

Above ground, Alexander, Robert, and Agent Carlisle walked to their waiting escort. After nearly being compromised by the Russians, SWORD was taking no chances. Alex looked up and noticed something strange in the distance.

"What the…?"

Carlisle followed his eyes, followed by Robert. In the distance, lightning flashed at a high frequency. Above the storm, an Aurora Borealis danced in the sky.

"High-level static discharge. And an Aurora as well. That's a Class 3 Anomaly" she remarked. "Void energy bleeding through from the space between our two worlds."

"My… This is quite remarkable" said the elder Dreyfus.

"Pretty, yes. But it also means there's a soft spot in the membrane between our worlds somewhere around that area" explained Carlisle.

"A soft spot?" asked Alex.

"Yeah. And you better pray that it stays that way" said Carlisle, getting into the SUV. "If an unstable breach opens up there, we'll be in for a long night."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Tiffania extinguished the flames on her end of the hole and walked through to Victor's room.

"I still don't get what happened" he told her.

Before she could speak, Hagrid crashed through the door to the room.

"Yer a wizard, Victor."

* * *

 **Oooooooh got a little dark in this chapter. And what's this? Potential teasing of some sort of future interaction between Master and Familiar? Who knows? We'll find out soon enough,**

 **Next chapter should pick up the pace.**

 **Please read and review!**


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